like a kid in a sweet shop

put the rams into their brackets this morning and this afternoon I'm going to attempt to put together the hydraulic hose fittings into the rams.

and just a little fiddling tonight before bed time...…….a pair of fire extinguishers for the cabin interior.....made from a little plasticard and plastic tubing...……..need a little sanding and cleaning up once the glue has set.

whilst the weather is cold outside and the workshop like a fridge i'm adding little items that go to make up the detail on the model.

it's a kit, a working boat, not a cup hunter, and its mine built from the box, not chopped, changed or enhanced with pocket busting additions costing a fortune...…..that's not what modelling is about.....its about enjoying what you do and not what you can spend to show off to others...….

as such, small little details that enhance a model that people find fascinating are the little bits that I enjoy putting on to a model, or inside that can be seen.

therefore this afternoon in the warmth of the back room with a good film, a warm radiator and just some little pieces of plastic and glue it put together the brackets and trays for the fire extinguishers and some small box holders for such things as pens for chartwork, cups, bottles and binoculars etc......a myriad of things...………..there are 4 on the Fleetwood boat and that is what I made.....[still to finish]

hi neil,

that's what I like neil they finish it of all of the little things, what has some times been difficult times in the build of the boat, it keeps you going thinking the end will come soon then on to the water and happy days  


david.

that's it, david………..you slog on, sometimes it is 2 steps forward, one back...………….or in my case 1 forward 2 back at times.

but then, all of a sudden, its time to put all the parts together, on they go, and hey ho, you have a model, as you say, ready to sail...…….

im nowhere near that stage yet, but the parts bin is slowly getting smaller...…..and one day they'll be all used lol.

So!!……….after my daughters' 20th birthday bash and meal at the pub. I came home and sat and played a while...…….they need a little cleaning up, but these two items are the fire blanket and the first aid kit bag....…..made from white miliput.

i'll set them aside to cure and then trim and sand down tomorrow.

 

there's a lot of hype about having working trim tabs on a scale lifeboat or other fast patrol craft, but for me, it is all just hype.

I've seen videos of both these Shannon models, Severn models, and other vessels sailing with them and without them, and using in both up, down and neutral positions, and TBH,  the effect that they have is minimal IMHO as a scale boat, and I really can't be bothered going to the time and expense of upgrading my radio gear, or using switches or Arduino [what ever that is] to operate gear that I have never used nor would know how to use.

the only "gimmick" that I will be putting on to the boat are working lights and radar.

BUT, for sake of getting the tabs damaged in an accident I have decided to make them moveable...……...i.e. they will go up/down to a certain degree.

for this I decided to make them spring loaded so that any pressure on them from water will raise or drop them on a captivated compression spring, similar to those used in a retractable ball point pen.

the springs will run on the outside of the ram rods inside a box, open at the top to allow the rods to rise and fall, and captivated at the bottom of the box to stop the actual movement.

I have fabricated the  workings as far as I can, but cannot go further until final fitting of the water jet outlets and the trim tabs onto the boat, so that the ram rods are set in position. 

and to bring the build up to date, this afternoon I fitted temporarily the main VHF areals to line up the roof brackets and side pivots.

then it was the turn of the jet inlet grills, 

and finally I raised the thickness of the boat hook locating brackets ready for positioning......here I glued a piece of plasticard to the base of each bracket to give it greater chance of holding the boat hooks. 

and the boat hook end bracket, now reamed out with a dental burr ready for attaching to the cabin side.

on looking at photos of anything that needed attaching permanently to the boat before spraying, I found that the boathook retention brackets plus the rear stopper to stop the boathooks sliding backwards both needed fitting...……….

but there the "problem" arose in that the rear stoppers are not included in the kit...…...so out came the plasticard and plastic glue.....and these were soon rattled off, ready for fitting tomorrow.

have now finished the stoppers, and ready for pinning and fitting to the cabin sides...….tomorrows first job.

then whilst I was demoulding 3  fenders that I sold earlier today on ebay I found that the same mould contained two hand force pumps for classic 1930 - 50's lifeboats, plus a little addition of a set of binoculars,RNLI lifeboat pattern Barr and Strouds, so i'll hang them somewhere on the flying bridge of my Shannon.....an added little detail. 

getting nearer to the boats needing spraying, in that I have either drilled the positioning holes for parts to be added later, or for permanent fixtures that are to be coloured in their respective positions.

 Looking great Neil. 

cheers matey. …………...suffering tonight though...……..been using superglue for days, and I am allergic to it, even with full respirator mask on......so coughing and sneezing like crazy now for the next few days till my sinuses recover...…….back to slower 5minute epoxy. lol.

just straying off piste for a moment..making this whilst 30min epoxy cures...……….and a sideways delve into a little bit of the real stuff...……...working in my true media… beautiful wood…..does anyone understand a lady's mind...…….does a weekend away in a French city do the trick for a birthday and impress your lady...………….or is a lady more susceptible and more grounded to a mans simple gestures…… a bunch of flowers...……….or perhaps something you have made for her from your own hands...…

On September 4th 1970, on my first day of university I met for the first time the only lady that I have ever really loved, other than my two daughters.

She asked me to marry her in July 1975, but as I had just been offered a post teaching in Australia, I told her that I would if she were to go with me...…...sadly she had an ailing mother and sister to look after and we parted company...….I told her the last time I saw her a month before I was due to fly that I would be back with a ring for her.as in the John Denver song "Leaving on a jet plane!"

Just over two years later I returned and paid her a call to be met by a husband, and young child...……..gutted and distraught, I put the thoughts of her and the ring to the back of my mind, and in fact lost the ring for another 40 years...…

But 3 years ago, we re-met and our feelings deep down were just the same after all those years...……...so how does one tell the lady that he has loved all these years, just what he feels, in deed as in word...…………..well, its not a trip to gay Paris'.

I found the ring that I had bought for her in Australia 42 years ago,,in an antique jewellery shop,  and have now made a little box for It......the same timber that In used to  make a jewellery box for her in my first year of teaching in 1974, which she still keeps even after 42 years of a tortuous marriage.

Bearing in mind that we both studied the same historical geography course at uni...delving into the history of our country and world through a geographical nature…..this ring is a little more special than just the lock stock gold ring...…..it isn't a gold ring, wedding or otherwise, and of modern circ age...……….but a bronze "friendship" ring, dated to 11c - 14c medieval...………...approximately 1000 years old...…….

I just hope that she likes it.. I know she will!

Blurry marvelous Matey. 

at times, you come to a dead stop...……..lack of inspiration because you have never done the process before...…..or lack of knowledge...………...or just the fact that you have exhausted all avenues...…..and have to leave it for a while...….

i'm talking about displaying the interior of the Shannon cabin when the boat is on show...….

it was Adrian goslings idea that as I had put so much work into the interior, it SHOULD be displayed...…….and so I have been mulling over the idea and just how to do it.

I decided not to fix it into the cabin as I had earlier decided, but to mount it on rails resting on beams set into the hull so that the deck/cabin assembly would slip over the interior. and that inspiration came from getting the crew together, with a good strong 7.3% beer and  thinking just how to do it.





 so that, if as said somewhere else, the boat might be top heavy with the interior stacked with all the detailing, sat in place and therefor unstable on tight turns...…….. then, so once it has been statically viewed with the stuff sat in place, it can be removed and cabin placed on the boat ready for a nice sail......perfick.

so I started building the configuration by cutting the support rails across and longitudinally for the cabin insert...…..this I have done and left overnight to glue and set hard......I used tightbond aliphatic quick grab resin and cherry for the structure,

after the disaster of the support rails that never were. Regarding the interior display support, I got on with making little bits and bats for the hull to place on it prior to spraying...…….this time it was the case of all the small circular outlets for discharging coolants, self bailers etc

I haven't seen these supplied in the kit so made them from decreasing diameter plastic tubing.

I think from photos there are 9 on each boat, but have made an extra one for each but will check this from the photos I have of the 3 boats at hand. .

I think the two boats are now ready for taking down to my mate Stavros's house in Wales for spraying up...…..but there lies a problem...…...I have no car, lol...…………….and might not have until later in march, if my insurers write mine off...…..

but I have been adding the last little bits to the hulls today on both boats.....

Looking fwd to doing them

yr a hero mate...…….I appreciate it very much...…...and so does mick.

I am torn between one of the most fidly jobs I will probably ever have to do on a model.


on the Speedline model kit, there is a  set of plates on the aft end of the upper superstructure top which is laser cut and has raised bolt heads on the nickel metal plates...……...on the models by design moulds, there are no raised bolt heads, and so these need adding.

to do this mick bought me some 2mm hexagonal extruded HIPS plastic rod which will take the place of the nuts, when cut to thickness.

but how to cut to uniform thickness for the 200 or so "bolt heads"

simples...……...make a jig...….and then cut them all uniformly.











that's 155 cut...………...will have to count tomorrow how many more to do......tedious, but then some parts of model making can be.

but!!!...……..do I stick them to some sticky tape and paint them separately...……...or! do I stick them on to the cabin and then paint the whole as one, and then touch up the bolt heads with silver later.

You are NOT going anywhere near MY PAINTWORK with a ruddy paintbrush,stick them some tape and use a silver spray can and then use a set of tweezers and some glue and stick them on after if has been painted.

Paint them  after it has been painted INDEED


Dave

stavros wrote:

You are NOT going anywhere near MY PAINTWORK with a ruddy paintbrush,stick them some tape and use a silver spray can and then use a set of tweezers and some glue and stick them on after if has been painted.

Paint them  after it has been painted INDEED


Dave

yes dad, alright dad, i'll do as you say , dad...…..100 lines "I must not paint them after the boats have been painted", 


sorreeeee!!

You all packed and raring to go 


Dave

stavros wrote:

You all packed and raring to go 


Dave

no mate, I'm not...…...was going to pack this afternoon as they will take up the boot and two rear seats...……………

but my two lovely daughters have decided to both go out with their mates to separate venues tonight , and so I will be acting as dads taxi till god know what time...

so will put the boats in the car tomorrow, but the rest is packed.....timber, plans and paint......and a breakfast wrap from mackydee's to look forward too tomorrow as we set off, lol.

my workshop looks positively bare now that the two Shannons have set sail for north wales, BUT...…

My good friend Dave Stavros Jones, seems to be snowed under with Shannons, lol. 

I have to say, daves workshop looks almost as lived in as mine, 

And mine  

Thats it ethnic cleansing time comming up soon......whenever that will be lol.......Plans are afoot to extend the workshop with a 10x8 addition so all the boats and other stuff including all my fishing gear can be stored in that....out of sight and out of mind.
Then it's a major rewireing and rearrangement so I can have more  working space,drop the workbench around 6ins move all the toys,drill press etc to one side of the workshop...OK OK OK  we all know what will happen YES correct Dave will fill it all up AGAIN


Dave

……..the old saying comes to mind about space expands coefficiently to the amount of crap you make to put in it...…….I know! my workshop is like Tardis, .

now, on a more serious note, now that the boats have been received into Daves' magical hands, I have got town to the task of getting my fittings ready and copying these in plasticard and other materials for Micks boat.

and as I have lost, in my wonderful tidy workshop, the "T" plate cover for the mast gantry, and the navigation light boxes, I made a new one for mine and nav light boxes for both boats.

What not to do when you have a perfectly good 3D printed fitting with the waste printing material still attached...….

take a band saw to cut the waste off and then snag the thing and put lovely cuts all over it....bahhh humbug!!!











all is now filled with milliput….just wait for it to cure and then sand smooth...……..hopefully be as good as new.

repaired...…...I won't do that again, lol.









just need a little sanding down now.

Oooooh I heard the harsh words from here in Aus, matey  

they were that Damien…...I slapped my own face for my stupidity lol.

anyway...…..time marches on and next fiddly job was to drill the stanchions...…...this done, I have mounted them on a board drilled to take the "pegs" and will now spray them. 

first with a filler primer and then grey. 

The Stantions are looking good,and will look like the real thing when all finished.
Going back to the erm slightly butchered item,at least it was the object you cut,and not yourself for a change lol
Thank god for milliput.
Mick F

battleshipbuff wrote:

The Stantions are looking good,and will look like the real thing when all finished.
Going back to the erm slightly butchered item,at least it was the object you cut,and not yourself for a change lol
Thank god for milliput.
Mick F

I've learned to jump quickly backwards when something snags...…….wasn't quick enough whilst teaching in OZZ  and the circular bench saw was too quick for me, took it's revenge for all the ill-treatment I gave it and took the end of my thumb off...……..so i'm rather wary of saws these days and have learned to jump quickly.

last night I put  a request on the RNLI Fleetwood face book page asking what these parts were, as on one of my early parts lists for the Shannon, from Speedline's website, I could not see what they were as they were not even listed. 







in fact such things as the input and output deck speakers are listed under the vague "bridge instruments"...…...one of each of these are on the fore cabin next to the escape w/t hatch......the list is to be honest very vague indeed, and unless you have a friend of both mechanic and an ex coxs'n you have a devils own job to identify some parts.


so I went down to the boat this morning only a few ours after she and the crew and the D class had saved a man from drowning in the early hours, with Paul the ex coxs'n to try to find the objects. we scoured the main cabin, the survivors cabin and even went into the entrance to the engine room before we decided that an item meant to be on show on a model wouldn't be in the bowels of the boat.


I asked him what the search light looked like, and he told me where the deck located one was, and we opened the locker on the flying bridge...…...to find the round bin like object.....eureka......that fitting listed as the search light, is not the searchlight...……...but for all we know a bloody washing up bowl………..the item in the pic above is the searchlight body.


what the other two items that look like a motor with spindle he has never seen on this or any other boat...……..


but if Zetec or anyone else professing to be more knowledgeable than our cox, knows what the two motor thingies are and also what this is......please let me know....thanks...…..but as listed on the early list......the two motors are not starter motors for the fore deck capstain…...and the round truncated cone is not the searchlight as earlier listed. 

I started putting the delta anchor together tonight for the MBD boat...……….

and then thought...…."wait a minute"...….I have a mould for making just such an anchor that I made some years back for a boat I had built...……

why waste time when I have a couple ready...……….they don't have the same design as that supplied by the Speedline kit,[ the Speedline anchor is of correct design and shape,] and if mick doesn't like the delta anchor, I have a trick up my sleeve.....so keep an eye open for the later development.