Guardsman

Well - I finally got my new connectors - the first order got lost - but they don't help  So I have reverted to the cranked link and adjusted it so that the vertical is nearer the rudder post. This will have to do

I have worked out what need to cut out of the deck so once that is done the deck can be fixed down.

Barrie

The deck has now been stuck down - if the glue sets  Next job will be to trim the edge to leave a 3 mm overhang as the rubbing strip.

Barrie

The deck has stuck  Today I planed and sanded the edge to give the 3 mm overhang shown on the plan. I think this looks rather strange myself and I am thinking of adding a 3 mm square strip underneath to make a 'proper' rubbing strip. It just depends on whether or not I can get it to bend round the stern 

Barrie

 

Lookin real good Barrie.   I think a 3mm strip will improve the rubbing strip adding to the reality of it.

3 mm strip now added under the deck overhang. I had some problems with glue this morning because of the cold. Temperature in my workshop was about 2 C - and I have a 120 watt heater running 24/7.  
In the end I used superglue for most of it after giving trying to get enough epoxy to flow out of the syringes. Once all is dry it will require some work to shape it, and fill a few gaps.

Barrie

The temperature is back above freezing (only just) today, so back into the workshop. I sanded the rubbing strip and did some filling as well. Then I turned my attention to the bulwarks - I think these could see me deciding to abandon this model.  Despite marking a careful template onto some card, when I cut it out, it didn't fit  Luckily it was only card, not the ply of the finished article. I have managed to get the bit around the stern to the correct shape and stuck down. Next session I will need to try again with the longer side pieces. Once these are cut and installed then I will be able to turn my attention to the capping strips ..... oh joy

Barrie

Not a lot of progress - the weather and sniffles don't make for modelling. Although this part of Essex has come off very lightly in the recent Beast. Today I fitted one side bulwark. I'm not too happy with it, but it will have to do . No photo as my camera battery was flat
While I was attempting to prepare the other side I managed to snap the piece of ply  - and it was the only piece long enough . So it will have to be made in two parts  and joined. A strengthening plate is shown on the drawing, but not where the join will be
This model is getting very near the scrap bin

Barrie

Second side fitted today - in two parts. I think this made it slightly easier  Still work to do filling and sanding. I had an idea to use 100gsm card for the capping, so I did an experiment with Superglue for stiffening and I think it will work . 

Barrie

its looking great barrie, and especially now the bulwarks are going on..........gives extra depth and shape to the hull

A few wobbles in the line of the bulwarks . Hopefully I can disguise these with the cappings   After sanding the tops to the correct size, I filled the gap at the deck join with P38. My previous attempt to do this used Squadron putty, but this has no strength.

The cappings were cut from 100 gsm card and fixed with super glue. They were then covered in thin super glue to make them rigid. They are now ready for sanding. Unfortunately the one I cut for the stern wasn't very good so I have removed it and will re-make. This photo is before I have done much sanding to shape the capping.



Barrie

The cappings have been sanded to try to obtain a smoother line. I decided to paint them as I wasn't sure how well they would look, but I am reasonably pleased with them. I also put some paint on the inside of the bulwarks. I have decided that I will have to plank the deck, so I wasn't too careful with the paint on the deck  I don't have enough strip and will have to order some. Unfortunately the postage is likely to be more than the strip 

So progress in one area, but a setback in another. I decided to hook up the servo linkage to the rudder, but found the rudder was jammed solid. It appears that super glue has got into the tube
I set too and made another - luckily I found some tube and rod of the right size.

Barrie

After thinking about this build overnight I have decided to halt it.
There are a couple of reasons - I'm not really happy with the hull and bulwarks and don't see a way of rectifying them. I need to plank the deck and I can't at the moment see an economical way of getting hold of the material.
There is another model of Guardsman in our club which is made on the plastic hull and mine is always going to look inferior to that one.
I go on holiday in 10 days time and I will reconsider when I return, but it will probably end up in the skip.
In the meantime I do have another project waiting in the wings

Barrie

that's sad barrie............don't skip it.......put it in a corner of the loft and come back to it at a later date....when you don't feel as peeed off with it........I only ever didn't finish one model many years ago, HMS Kent a county class cruiser of ww1 and Battle of the Falkland's affair ......and gave it away........I have always regretted it's disposal.

Don't quit Barrie all the strife I've had with Josie and I didn't let her beat me 

It hasn't gone in the skip yet

Barrie

If you decide to skip it, instead mail it my way I’m sure I can come up with something of a fix.

I’ll just add it to my never ending projects I need to do.

I had a titanic battle with a Dumas "Lord Nelson Victory tug" kit (nothing like it sounds - honest!). I finished the hull after throwing away all of the balsa planking material supplied - replacing it with obechi -  and using ply where they had used some horrid high-density plastic foam. I couldn't bring myself to building the superstructure so I let the whole £250 kit and caboodle go to another member of the Model Boats forum for fifty quid and a bottle of Jack Daniels. The relief was enormous! It'll be interesting to see what he manages to do with it.
DM

While I decide how to finish the Fire Boat with a new tower, I have gone back to Guardsman. I stripped off the old bulwarks and sanded the deck flat, then started again. This time I am using some thick card - thanks for the idea David

These are not perfect but I think they are better than the originals which, apart from anything else, were too low.  There are a few gaps to fill, and the joins to smooth off, then supports to fit and a capping rail. I have been thinking about strengthening them. I'm not sure if EzeKote resin will do the job, or would Z-poxy finishing resin be better? The other option would be to soak them in CA glue, but that's a bit messy.

 

I've also had an idea for the decking. Instead of using individual planks, I think I will cut the planked area from 0.8 mm ply and scribe the planks onto that. I may have enough ply to do that, and if not its only a run to Maldon to get some more. Whilst there I can also try out the boating lake. 

Barrie

looking good barrie  all I have used is p.v.a glue and then a coat of resin and that has given it the stiffness needed.

david

davidjt wrote:

looking good barrie  all I have used is p.v.a glue and then a coat of resin and that has given it the stiffness needed.

david

David I'm not sure pva would have much effect. This card has two quite shiny layers sandwiching some grey board. I don't think the pva would penetrate the outer layers, I did test some Eze Kote which hardened the surface a little, but didn't stiffen the board. I have some Halfords liquid resin that I may use, otherwise its the Z-poxy.
Barrie

Not much achieved today - gardening duty
I did manage to add some more filler to smooth out the joins and fill some gaps. While waiting for that to dry, I made a template for the planked deck. This was transferred to some 0.8 mm birch ply.This is ready to cut out and mark the plank lines.
In addition to the gardening, hay fever was an issue today - difficult to see clearly with itchy eyes   
Hopefully tomorrow will see the filler sanded smooth and some resin applied.

Barrie

Wednesday evening my PC refused to lboot. I managed to work out that it was the HD that had corrupted some Windows files so I ordered a new HD and a SATA to USB device. The PC is now running again with just a few tweeks required to get it as I like.

So, here are the results of three days work on Guardsman. The filler was sanded and I applied a coat of Z-poxy. This really stiffened the card so I added bulwark supports then the capping strip cut from lighter card. This was also given a coat of z-poxy to harden it. That was Thursday and Friday's tasks.
Today I sanded the capping strip to achieve a smoother edge and more uniform width - its not perfect and was considering scrapping it again, but decided to try painting it. 
Having done that, its looks a bit better. When the paint is dry I will make a final decision on the future of this build

    

Good result

barriew,
stop beating your self up , the finish to me is perfect looking at the photos . I no when you put your heart and sole into something, you think to yourself its not working, but believe me it is. keep going and then decide.

david

The bulwarks have had a second coat of paint inside and out. The deck has been stained (doesn't really show in the photo) and is now stuck down. Next job is to fit comings then I can start the superstructure. I think I am going to use plastic card for this, except possibly the wheelhouse which I think should be planked.

Barrie

Yesterday I fitted the coamings round the hatch. I also fitted some to the forward hatch but I am not sure these will be needed. I only opened up that hole in case I need to get some ballast so far forward. I may just glue down that bit of superstructure.



Today I started on the various bits of superstructure. This is the main cabin. Built from plastic card as you see. Cutting all the windows was the hardest part and thankfully there are no more of this shape to do.

 

I put in the the roof support because it came from one the end panels I cut incorrectly  , but I think I will cut another one. I plan to use 0.5 mm material for the roof, so more support is probably a good idea

Barrie

 

More parts of the superstructure started. The roof has been put on the main saloon and the engine room and boiler house parts started. At the moment these are all separate but I think some of them need fixing together, although I don't want to have to remove them as a whole to change a battery.  All these pieces need final trimming and filling, then there are three more to build. 
The engine room has opening skylights of which I am not sure about the detail - I need to try to find some photos of the real thing or a model.

Barrie

This morning I tried to get the various section to line up correctly - still a work in progress. I did build most of the wheelhouse however  Then this afternoon I did some filling, finished the wheelhouse - phase 1. Still a door to make and possibly inside fittings. I am a bit hampered by the fact there only appears to be one photo of the actual Guardsman, and that's not a very good one. One thing does seem certain, the main steering position was on the roof of the wheelhouse. This is not shown on Vic Smeed's drawing, but does appear on some model photos.
The two middle sections are stuck together. The wheelhouse will be joined to them.
I have now made all the superstructure items, although they all require extra work. 

 

Barrie

you are building a superb example of a nice model there, barrie………...you should be proud of it.

Added some details to the various bits and started painting so that I can glaze them before sticking anymore together. I spayed white primer on the two main pieces, but hand painted the wheelhouse  and forward ventilator.

Barrie

Painting continues  The glazing is ready for the forward hatch and the engine room skylights. The main saloon is still to be glazed. 

This is what it looks like now



Apart from finishing painting these items, the next jobs are to make or source a funnel and re- mark the water line and finish painting te hull.

Barrie

its coming on very nice now barrie, I told you it would turn out good 


david

After scouring eBay for some 3 cm diameter tube, I managed to find an old black plastic postal tube in my box of bits which is just 3 cm diameter. It was rather oval in shape through being crushed, but I also found some 3 cm diameter foam tube which I pushed inside to bring it back to shape. 
I also found some plastic handrails left over from a plastic kit which will look good on the cabin roof - I had to shorten one.
Finally today i re-marked the water line and painted the black above it.

Barrie

  

I've always liked the guardsman......nice old boat with good interesting features......she's looking well barrie

Thanks Neil, It's looking not too bad now, but I wish I had started with the plastic hull. It would be finished now if I had

Barrie

I always plump for a plastic or grp option......both crap at plank on frame and need a ton of filler. Hate balsa and too lazy to consider a wooden hull construction....and impatient to boot as well......no disgrace in choosing a ready moulded hull lol.

To be fair Neil grp hulls are far better and easier to work on than plastic, grp hulls don’t have that short life span and go brittle after a few years ( which has been the case of a couple of models I’ve built including a graphner kit.

That said besides ignoring a plastic hulls entirely from my future I personally love working on wooden and plank of frame style hulls over any other, grp hulls literally always leave me itchy and well plastic I’ve already mentioned, I guess we all have a preference to what we like working with and in my case a plank of frame hull give me much satisfaction regardless of the work involved.

To each their own!

But this case Barrie even with your slight issues this is turning into another great model and I’ve enjoyed your build greatly so far. It is said “you are alway your own worst critic” and those very words ring true to all of us when building anything all I can say is as long as you tried your best the final result will glorious to those who can’t.

Over the last two days I have been painting and adding some detail. I also re-installed the rudder and its linkage. The top of the hull has had two coats of black, and the underwater two coats of a reddish brown.



The funnel has had two coats of Radar Dome Tan - the nearest I've got to Buff



Handrails have been fitted to the Saloon roof, and there are two boathooks ready for fixing - one bought, one made.



Finally some hinges and handles have been fitted to some doors, and a door made and fitted to the wheelhouse. The plans show this on the front which seems strange so I have put it on the side



If the paint is dry enough I can start assembling the various bits on the deck tomorrow. I do have a slight problem with the propeller. I thought I had one that fitted, but can't find it.   A 30 mm seems rather small and a 40 mm wont fit. Nobody appears to make an M2 35 mm 3 bladed plastic one and a brass one would cost more than the whole of the rest of the model  

Barrie

Can you trim a 40mm prop to fit barrie?

Possibly Damien. If the paint is hard, I will have to see what is possible today. I may be able to reduce the thickness of the skeg to give a little more clearance. I assumed I could buy a 35 mm one, so didn't bother too much

Barrie

I removed a little from the skeg and also trimmed the 40 mm prop, so this now runs freely. This also meant modifying two bulkheads to allow me to remove the prop shaft - a sanding tube in my Dremel dealt with this   Fitted some portholes and handles to the Saloon doors and fixed the boathooks on the roof. I also made the steam whistle and put it in place - still needs gluing. Finally I gave the under water hull another coat of paint.

Barrie

Yesterday I varnished the hull and some superstructure and did some more detail work, including making a mast and installing windows. Today I finished varnishing the superstructure, did the deck and gunwales. I also painted under the forward ventilator black as otherwise the deck would have been visible. I have also made the stern grating, or at least modified some I already had. Just got to work out how to fix it   I have also sorted out some fittings - light boxes, lights and spotlight. I need to buy some ventilators - large and small - but these will have to wait until after my holiday. I discovered that the original didn't have a name on the bows - not sure about the stern. Still nothing fixed in the following photo.
I'm not very happy with the ventilator windows on the engine room - I think these will get changed.

Barrie

 

A lovely boat Barrie welldone.

I decided that I wasn't happy with the boiler house casing, so have painted it dark grey  Once the paint is satisfactory I will fit bars over the sky lights and I think this will improve the effect.  Today I made the galley chimney from some dowel and plastic tube. I also painted the light boxes and lights and a steering wheel. 
I need to build a winch and buy two more lights and some vents. 

Later this week I will set up my test tank and see how it floats. I don't want to fix the forward superstructure until I see if I need ballast up there  I have discovered that the wheelhouse, boiler/engine room and saloon should be fixed together, otherwise the forward two parts will not be secured from moving forward . I thought that was too unwieldy, so planned to keep the saloon separate. If I do that I will try using magnets to keep it all together  

Barrie