like a kid in a sweet shop

Anyway...…….rant over, back to business, and contrary to what a couple of people on mayhem have said today, back to what I do best and that is modelling.

the big problem with fitting the interior is the 13mm flange that runs around the top of the "box" which is fitted from the bottom of the cabin and this without bending the vac formed box wouldn't go in...……….

now the problem with this is that the interior of the cabin has to be made up before it is put in to the cabin...……..and if you do that, then I can guarantee that if you start bending the structure, then all the pieces glued in will pop out and off like crazy, and it would be back to the start, and all the mess that it causes in regluing etc.

so I decided to get rid of the flange up as far as the forward "humps" that are for placing instruments on.

however this would leave the "box" 26mm too narrow, and so to rectify this I have decided to glue in a fillet of timber on both sides of the cabin where the interior would glue up to...…

so I got some obeche from the scraps bin, cut them to width and glued in with epoxy. 

the forward "humps" have also been catered for by making two shaped obeche blocks for the plastic to locate on to...……

I felt that the very thin "wall" of the plastic vac form at less that 1mm thickness would also been horrendous to butt glue to the cabin wall as well, and not with standing that I would not have been able to get a straight ledge within tha cabin, that can now be achieved by glueing up to the obeche strip...…..conquering two problems in one.

Nice solution to the problem Neil.

Now you can see why I avoid preformed superstructures it at all possible!

it is so flimsy it could have been twice thickness for what minimal expense it costs. it would have been better as a grp moulding...……..but that is that...…….the rest of the kit is excellent quality and I just think that this could have been better thought out.

gribeauval wrote:

Nice solution to the problem Neil.

Now you can see why I avoid preformed superstructures it at all possible!

first time I have put internals such as this in, and as the interior kit is supplied there is no use wasting it...…….

when marking up I hadn't taken into account that the fuelling recess boxes protruded into the cabin further than the obeche beading that I had glued on this afternoon, I thought i a good chance to beef up the flimsy cabin vac formed box and so I ran two strips of 4 x 3mm plastic strip along the top edge of the interior box...…...this both stiffened up the box and also allowed clearance to the 3 recess boxes. shall wait till tomorrow for it all to harden up and then trim off and see if my calculations are correct, ho hum,.


anyway...…….its certainly made the tray more rigid. 

forgot to say, I also reinforced and stiffened the side walls on the insides with a sheet of the same plastic that the vac forming is made from...…...I picked a few sheets out of Adrian's skip when I went to pick the models up 18 months ago, its now very rigid after the solvent has set.

just spent two hours cutting the front consoles out to the cut lines that can be faintly seen on the Vac forming's……….DON'T!!!!!, If you have one follow your reasoning.

I cut them to the cut lines and ended up gluing pieces back on to the supposedly finished consol...……….because if you do...……….they slightly fit where they touch...………….it has been a job that could have been made much easier had the original plugs for the consoles been made to fit in the first place...……...it has been a nightmare...………..not for the faint of heart.

and they still need fillets around the edges...…..

Hi Neal I could not quite make out the lay out of the Consoles so I hope its okay to post a picture of what the consoles should look like just trying to help. Also check the hight of the seats the arms should be above the shelf that goes around the inside which you have made. When I checked mine against the plan they are 10mm + short in hight mine is a scratch built boat.

thanks for that photo Zetec...……...it is perhaps the most brilliant and yet perplexing photo I could have received. for it shows that I have probably got my two "console bases" totally and utterly wrong, not only in their orientation but on the wrong sides of the cabin./

I can't believe just how wrong I must have got them, but without any plans, and yet to get down to our boat at Fleetwood I just cant figure out just how these damned things fit into the corners without blocking the W/T hatch down to the survivors cabin.

I am beginning to come around to certain peoples thinking on mayhem...…….how can you release a kit without proper instructions, photos of model build and proper plans...……..its bloody infuriating.

well...……….after another two hours of rebuilding after my monumental cock up...………….thankfully brought to my attention by Zetecs kindly intervention and photo of the area I have now re positioned the consoles to the right orientation...….

I am gratefully appreciative of that posting zetec. many thanks. and if you have any more of the interior then please post on here. it would be a great help...…….there is much more detailing and info in that one picture than in all of what speedline have published together.

thanks. neil


that...………..






to this...…………...not much difference…………..lol...………….only swapped sides and turned through 90 degrees...………….whatta mistaka to make  a!!!!










just need to fill, trim and then sand smooth before going on to the next stage.

Hi Neil glad the picture was of help I have a few pictures of the inside if you say what area you are doing I will try and find the best pictures. Do you want a photo of the plans that show the inside of the cabin.

Cheers Zetec

if you could post them all John I would be eternally grateful...…..am just making the upright reinforcing gussets, and wanting to put the false roof in at some stage to hide the wiring above it.

it certainly helps, as access to Fleetwood boat is limited at the moment.

many thanks.

zetec wrote:

Hi Neil glad the picture was of help I have a few pictures of the inside if you say what area you are doing I will try and find the best pictures. Do you want a photo of the plans that show the inside of the cabin.

Cheers Zetec

help.., john?......it was a god send kind friend...………..stopped me looking a right plonker  had my boat been ever good enough to display...……………..without it, i'd have been laughed out of the arena...……..honestly…….what a cock up I had made...………

but now they are positioned right, with a bit of filler and some light sanding and then sprayed up, it won't look too badly, lol.

Age is a mongrel Neil

Neil a lot of the picture I got came from the Drop Box link that Adrain put up for people to use they give a lot of info. Will try and sort out the others.

Cheers Zetec

I can't find that link, john...…..would you have it please. thanks.. i'll pm you my email address.thanks.

tonight I thought i'd have a little play, and so put together all six of the crew chairs for the cockpit...……

went together like a breeze, and after cutting the 2 brass supports for each chair from brass tubing, I just used cyano to stick them all together...……..they look really sweet..

tomorrow i'll pay a visit to the lifeboat station at Fleetwood and ask my friend the mechanic if I can go aboard and take some photos of the interior to get the details of all the radio/radar and communications gear to finely detail the rst of the cockpit...……………..no one will know its there once the cabin top has been put on...……..but I will and that is all that matters.

 Oh wow. 

have started by working from stern to bow making the parts that are not including in the fittings set  by making the heating system/air exchange box and the main electrical junction box and heat defuse board. these are actually wall mounted, one on the cabin rear wall and one on the cabin tray wall below the join between the two. 

even cozier now that I have added more   parts to the interior....

started by making the 3 repeater monitors that show the same ass those for the coxs'n and mechanic in the two front seats......the monitors  are situated on the back of the two front seats and the middle seat on the starboard side, so that the nav/plotter can read his charts and use the monitor as well....these monitors were made using wooden formers covered in plasticard, and then detailed with more plasticard. 

I also made the cover for the front port footwell, the front monitor facias to go onto the vac formed front dashboards plus the  watertight door down into the survivors cabin.

finally I made the round trunking for the heater outlets from, plastruct tubing and some milliput embossed with the circular indents...……..all will be sanded down once they have cured or hardened.

Hey how'd you get my square same rust patterns and amount there of 

well, I couldn't find my chuck key so sneaked over and nicked your square matey...…..best check your tool box, lol.

a bit more detailing done on the interior bits and pieces.

and now got the brass work ready for silver soldering that go around the rear port side partition and the starboard side 2nd chair that supports the chart plotting table. 

and the last bit for tonight...….simple things that add a little detail if only stand off scale...….the 3 fuse boxes that go under the starboard side driving console...…...I WON'T BE  putting wiring in, lol...…..that is a step too far for "detailing " that will seldom be seen or taken notice of.

they will be sanded smooth once the glue has cured...…...simple but effectice…...adds a little reality to the interior.

You're really motoring now Neil. I guess you've got over your injury

Barrie

barriew wrote:

You're really motoring now Neil. I guess you've got over your injury

Barrie

not yet mate...……….I am supposed to be doing physio on my leg, but when I do it hurts more than the  leg did so decided the best physio was to hobble around and get off my ass...…….instead of just sitting there and moaning about it.....worked wonders...…..transferred the cutting board into the back room where its nice and warm...…...and have made almost all the parts that are on view through the cabin windows...…..and once the soldering is done, just a few grab rails to do and then I can paint all the interior in their respective colours and then glue it all in ready for fixing into the cabin oce that has been done...….

but it has given me the inspiration to get on with the boat instead of loafing around n doing sod all and feeling miserable, as I do most winters.

fifteen minutes to set up and jig the inner rails  and hearth and literally 4 mins 17 seconds to silver solder the 3 joints together......who says silver soldering is hard...…..

.the only hard thing about this type of soldering compared with soft solder...…….silver soldered joints in our  particular hobby will never break, unlike soft soldered joints. 

If you need details for any part of a Shannon build, then the 3D virtual tour of 13-09 is incredibly helpful....   https://www.panopticmotion.co.uk/virtual-tour/ilfracombe-rnli-virtual-tour/

thanks for that link alw……………….I've just seen your post………...been busy this morning taking an old gas built in oven out and putting a new electric one in and have only just got a breather before I go back and set it up with the timers etc...……..so will have a look at the link this evening...…

and don't worry folks for my safety and gas...…...the connector was a simple sprung bayonet self sealer connection that gassafe engineers put in a few years ago,,,,,,I just had to push, turn and put the connector from the cooker to release it all.....

but I did light a match to see what I was doing and make sure there was no leaks...……..better safe than sorry  

nhp651 wrote:

thanks for that link alw……………….I've just seen your post………...been busy this morning taking an old gas built in oven out and putting a new electric one in and have only just got a breather before I go back and set it up with the timers etc...……..so will have a look at the link this evening...…

and don't worry folks for my safety and gas...…...the connector was a simple sprung bayonet self sealer connection that gassafe engineers put in a few years ago,,,,,,I just had to push, turn and put the connector from the cooker to release it all.....

but I did light a match to see what I was doing and make sure there was no leaks...……..better safe than sorry  

Hell that could have been a drastic way of getting your hair cut shorter mate! Just waiting to see what your lecktrickery do later on in the build lol

alw wrote:

If you need details for any part of a Shannon build, then the 3D virtual tour of 13-09 is incredibly helpful....   https://www.panopticmotion.co.uk/virtual-tour/ilfracombe-rnli-virtual-tour/

just had a look at the site, alw………...and as you say incredibly helpful...…..won't need to go down to Fleetwood boat again....it cockpit interior is from the photos I took down at Fleetwood identical to Fleetwood's boat...….in many ways...…..just a few little deviations...….which are probably personal to each crew's positions...…...left and right handed operations and such...……..but I think I'll call it almost a day, with just a few small additions...……

I suppose there is only so much a viewer can see through a cabin window before they poke their eye out on a whip areal,

I decided some time ago that I was going to make the interior cabin and tray to be removeable, for if any thing came loose at a later date when adhesives tend to dry out and things fall over/off...………

and so I decided that it could be held, fore and aft by a simple bracket at the bow which will allow a screw to secure into a block of obeche, and at the stern, a bar of 2.8mm ply crossing the stern of the tray on the underside, screwing into two blocks glued into the sides of the superstructure...……..these were fixed in place using 30minute two part epoxy ZAP glue.

whilst at it I cut and glued into the beams  to fit a dropped false roof to the cabin to hide some of the lighting wiring.


 

and the panels for the false roof have now been cut and placed loosely in position.

That looks pretty neat and a good fit
All coming together nicely
Mick F

battleshipbuff wrote:

That looks pretty neat and a good fit
All coming together nicely
Mick F

 

first coats of paint have gone onto the cabin......2 layer of filler primer...…...I'll give it two more tomorrow and then bring it indoors to harden, as the workshop is almost arctic at the moment, lol.

I also took a trip to one of my local lifeboat stations that house a Shannon, and asked the mechanic what actual colour the antifouling is on the boat...…...he gave me a small tin of the paint that was 2/3 used to either thin with cellulose thinners and spray or have it colour matched at a paint suppliers...……..looks like a trip to Halfords in the near future is called for. 

On real boats this anti-foul paint appears as different shades when patched on station and none of them are "Black" as such.


When tested up against the Llandudno Shannon ( 13-18 ) the best match is Anthracite Grey - RAL 7016  which can be mixed by most body paint suppliers

yehwhen I spoke to my mechanic friend today, they have to touch up virtually every time she beaches, unlike the water based boat at Fleetwood which comes out every few months for a bum scrape...…..but they all get a respray on their annual service of the antifouling to make them pristine again...……….sadly at poole or other service yards such things as rust on the windscreen wipers and other minor defects are overlooked......not as well kept i'm afraid as the older wooden boats .they are these days just a tool for efficient and fast lifesaving, not  thing of beauty.

Those patches on 13-18 have been there for over 21 months now and no sign of a repaint.

alw wrote:

Those patches on 13-18 have been there for over 21 months now and no sign of a repaint.

it should be done every yearly service and out of water inspection.....ours is at fleetwood, and st annes is due for hers in February...….she's been on station since this January.

other wise it gets between the paint and the toughened coating of the skid panel and can in theory com,e off in lumps.....

straight from both the st annes mechanic, and Fleetwood mechanic and LOM,...……

We have one, a relief boat sat on hard standing at Fleetwood has been for 5 months, 13-07, REG. that was given an antifouling respray as soon as her hull was cleaned, and has sat there ever since...…….and still there.

It seems different boats have different anti-fouling paint colour schemes. Some of the early boats had white and grey.

13-04,13-07 and 13-09 have distinct grey areas at the front, yet 13-05, 13-15, 13-18 and 13-28 have one colour for the whole lower hull.




Compare 13-12 and 13-18 hulls when they were both at LLandudno for crew training....    https://www.alamy.com/stock-image-a-new-lifeboat-for-llandudno-the-rnli-shannon-class-lifeboat-the-william-161376311.html

you are totally right there Andy...…..

And that is why now a days the crew goes to Poole not only for initial training, but to hone the boat and its fitments to the crew's choice………..it is not inconceivable for such rudimental items as cup holders to be changed...fire extinguisher points to be altered.....…...and joysticks to be changed for left and right handed crew, to give comfort and ease of use...……….I have been told that even the "suspension" o the sprung seats are alterable for weight of crew...………..so no two boats are alike...…...probably in a myriad of ways un noticeable to the layman, and that is why it is so much fun to the modeller to re create...…...even Fleetwood AND St Annes boats are slightly different...……..

one does the best they can with the information available to produce the boat of their choice...………...and if it is fun for them to build, and they themselves are satisfied with the result and modelled to the best of their ability...….who are we to challenge them.....

that is all what model making is all about.....self satisfaction...……...if I am happy with my model...………...who's business is it other than mine to contradict.

Indeed Neil 

well!!!...……….as much as I am now beginning to enjoy this build...…………..something I haven't done until recent days have shown...…...two much beer and warmth of the house has overtaken the coolness of the garage workshop...………..and I just can't get it warm enough to get a decent finish on the paint, from previous painting in cold weather...…….and so, until the two girls have gone to college after the 7th January and I can be naughty and bring my spray sheets indoors in the warmth of the house...……..that is it till new year...……..

after all, it wouldn't do, to get overspray Volkswagon brilliant orange or Baliol Blue on the Christmas tree...………..my ex and kids would go ballistic, lol.

all the best to you all for the Christmas and new year period...……..

take care and be safe..……...and for you guys in ozz……...make the most of your summer...…...because from now on, the days are only getting shorter, lol

lol top temp's for coming week 26c today then 30, 32, 30, 36, 34, 32

Damien wrote:

lol top temp's for coming week 26c today then 30, 32, 30, 36, 34, 32

you making me feel jealous Damien, languishing in my damp 7c temp...…………...mind you the moon came out once it went dark and the clouds scattered.