s s cordene steam coaster

this is the build of a part kit that was given to me as nobody at the time wanted to try and build it at my club.
this is a kit made by deans marine, all I have is a  hull and all the metal fittings as in photo. some one has tried to make a start but made a mess, again photos show where holes have been drilled of centre, so I have filled with resin  to start again. 








these are all the metal parts 



you can see here where the holes have been drilled wrong




and the same here




this bit is really bad.


I will update later with more details of the ship where she was built etc as I am trying to put you in the picture what I am doing


david

these pictures show the hull its self 34"x 5" x 21/2" it has been plated so looks good. it is 1- 96 scale so not a bad size really. as I have the drawing I am going to make all the deck from 1.5mm birch ply which I bought some time ago, the other parts I will use my trusted card 1.5mm. I have used this many times with great success/



this is the resin with glass matting mixed in






 





this is how I got the shell before I started on it



you can see the plating on some of the photos. so this is what I have to work with. I will not mention any more about it being a deans marine kit as most of the top structure will be made by me. so it will be semi scratch built. the hull and parts are all well made so I will leave it there.i hope  I will make some thing of it, and keep you up to date with my build progress.

,

a good old nostalgic 3 island cargo tramp, david………..many years ago I built its for runner the SS Melanie.....I love those old tramps...……….will be watching with great interest. 

neil.

hi neil, 
its funny you should mention  SS MELANIE. I found a build of that on deans marine forum its the same hull and most of the top decks etc, I am using it to help me build mine. there are some guns on it at rear, and bridge slightly different I presume it was used for coal like cordene I have a copy of steam coasters and short sea traders by Charles v waine  with cordene in it







very good book I will give more details of what happed to her as I go along thanks for saying about it at least I no 1 person is interested in her


thanks david

Hi David,

I thought I had posted a reply earlier, but it has vanished  
I am very interested to follow your build. You always have some different ways of doing things.

Barrie

Quite a bit of work needed David but no doubt you're up to it. I look forward to your build.

hi,

This is just about the history of s s cordene, 
She was built by Swan hunter of Newcastle  in 1924 along side her sister ship s s corduff ,
These being the last of the steam tramp colliers,with engines being amidships as this was found to be bad,  they found they lost space for coal due to prop shaft running that length from midships to prop, and causing a lot of wear on the shaft also, they were built to mostly carry coal in the London coal trade.
The dimensions are 284ft x 19ft 6" x 19ft 6".
The tonnage was 2,345 gross
The power came from triple expansion steam engines with to boilers providing the steam running 1 propeller. 
with a speed of 12 knots.
Sadley during runs, corduff was sank by german torpedo e boat in march 1941 of cromer
then cordene was bombed by german aircraft in august 1941 again of cromer. so both of them sank in the same place of cromer Norfolk.





the build will be slow at first, until I can work out what I am doing  , it looks like it will make a nice model 

david

I have now made a start by cutting up some 5mm x 5mm square pine. this will be used for the deck support around the hull. I don't think it will make much difference to the weight when built, there was some of cuts of balsa, which I used for the round parts as it is better for cutting in 5 mm intervals as seen in photo. then when I had done that I cut some templates out of card for decks. I will be using ply for this.]




this is the start off the deck supports




here I have used some balsa, cut slots all round  then teased it into a curve, I then bevelled it to fit snug . I have used super glue for this 




first template cut from corn flake box card great for modelling with




all templates now cut ready for ply being cut.


david

some nice woodworking there, david………...its a good sound method and a method I use myself...…….so much easier than steaming, and much quicker too.

while we have been having all this bad weather, I have been busy fitting the prop shaft. this is what came with the kit. it has been fitted with oiler which is something I have never had before, always gone for grease in prop tube and never had any problems with, so will see what advantage this has. the coupling is a double for some reason so I have just fitted as. the motor is a 400 I think again with the kit and mounted on block I made with bracket screwed on. the servo is one I had in stock a mini micro as I don't have a lot of room. it shows it fitted well past motor but didn't like it that way.





this photo shows prop shaft with oiler fixed in place, and servo fitted in place




I have made a holder for servo to fix into place



 the motor block and servo i have used epoxy glue to fix  in place. the rudder has the old electric plug connector fitted.



I have made a skeg from some copper for the rudder to fit into, as the one supplied broke, very brittle then used some 12ba bolts screwed into hull 






the prop is fitted, but not sure if I will change it for brass. the rudder looks ok but again might make a brass one.



david

David,

Coming along nicely  . I pump grease down my oiler tubes instead of oil.

Barrie

hi barrie ,

is that normal for you, our as I said I normally just put grease in never used oil tube before, as I thought it might cause pollution on the water. any body else use oil only does it leak out .

david

David, I've had oil leak out but not grease. I don't always use the tubes. I did it on this build as the inboard end of shaft is below the water line and I hoped the grease would keep the water out  

Barrie

I always use Vaseline, mixed with carbon powder to give excellent lubrication but also even with my short 6" shafts, perfect water  protection against leaks.

before I fix the deck I have made all the deck hatches with card. the supports are pieces of plastic rod.



this is the rod supplied with kit 




here you can see the markings for the rods to support coaming,then i drilled holes 1.5mm to push them in with tight fit






support rods fitted




the white strip around the hatch came with kit so I used it






that is all the combing supports fitted. as I got to the end I found I didn't have enough rod left so I used some strimmer line and this worked better you can see on  left is clear strimmer line and on right is the brown  that was supplied




they do this in different sizes and is great for modelling .I would have just used this had I been building from scratch which I prefer to do.


david

I have now completed the bridge and funnel all this is from 1.5mm  card and super glue







I cut the card up into strips as shown 




the funnel is from steradent  container as it was perfect size,  the kit one was missing.









this is how it looks so far its all going well at the moment.


david

looks good...……..even the built in capping rim on the funnel...…..great ingenuity.

Its BIG David  Looks good though.

Barrie

Looks really good David.

i thought I would have a break from the boat and make some of the cast winches there are five of them.




here are all the bits must say they have been well made




I used 5 min epoxy to fix them together














here they are all painted in green. must say it has been nice working on these for a change. but mus plod on now with the boat again.


david

I have been making the hatch covers from match sticks ,as they were almost to the scale I wanted. I first made them from card by glueing them on. when dry I just peeled of the card and rubbed them smooth.




this shows the card cover before fixing matchsticks on



here are the match sticks ready 









all rubbed down ready for stain







this is the under side 




all stained but not sure what to do with them as they should be covered with a tarpaulin when at sea so not sure how to go about that. so will leave till later in the build


david

David I love the weathered look of the covers. 

David,

I have used handkerchiefs in the past to represent tarpaulins. Painted deck green they look quite effective.

Barrie

I have been making the hand rails around bridge, using matchsticks.  again I found sticking them on to clear plastic the best way with p.v.a. glue then when dry it peels of followed by a good rub down.

 

I have cut down on the pencil line the width I need with sharp Stanley blade



here I have put the coffee stirrers that we all use for the capping then planed it down to size






test fitting before I glue it on




all corners have been mitred and glued into position



I like the wood work side of this build




testing for fit



there is still a lot more to do yet  on this but I keep changing from one to the other so I don't get bogged down on the same things 


david

Coming along nicely David. I like the woodwork.

Barrie

coming on grand  David...….

she reminds me of a ship that Harold Underhill drew plans of many years ago called Caledonian Monarch....

the original builders model is in the Glasgow science museum, in the cellars......my Grand father who got me into modelling at age 8 built her, and built a copy which I used to play with on the carpet.....she would be around 3' long...….

 remember the hull was made from papier mache and the decks steel plates...…

as a kid I loved it but in '63 we moved house and at 12 years old I presume my father thought I was too old to play on the rug with it and it "disappeared" in the move, sadly. 

She was torpedoed and sunk during the 2nd world war. 

hi neil.
 I think there must be a lot of these ships at the bottom of the sea, as s s cordene and s s corduff sister ship were torpedoed as well  ,


david

davidjt wrote:

hi neil.
 I think there must be a lot of these ships at the bottom of the sea, as s s cordene and s s corduff sister ship were torpedoed as well  ,


david

such beautiful ships met a sad early demise.

I have been painting on and of when the weather permits, so far I have now done the hull and deck. this is the paint I have used 



the grey paint is for the doors I have done further down from here. they do it in all colours.



hull now painted red waiting for black.



black coats have been applied, and deck has been painted in red oxide



this is how she looks so far



the for deck I have done in wood effect




this is the port holes painted brass below. I have used some washers for this as they were missing from kit ready for fixing.




below are the doors painted in the grey paint.
now the fun starts fitting it out. but first I need to make three life boats as I have found they are missing. so next post I will show how I make them.


david

Coming along nicely now David. 

Barrie

that is my type of model...…...full of nostalgia and memories...…..I love it.

Looking really good David. 

these are  the life boats they were missing so needed to make 3 off them.



not been able to do any thing latly due to ill health I was going to show the lot but can only show what I have been able to manage.




started of with pattern from plan cut out on some card



I used a block of balsa to make a rough shape



here is the boat now rubbed down 



here I have routed out the middle of the boat with my little Dremel. you can see the bits I used to rout it out above.



that's it now when I feel better I will make my mould so that I can cast some in resin.


david

hi all, 
i am back after a long period of sickness, all due to changes in medication, back on what i was on originaly   i dont think doctors no what they are doing some times. sufferd for nothing  .

back to my build as shown ages ago i carved out lifeboat then made my own little casting out of plaster of paris. below shows materials used.




here is the start of casting boat coated in vaseline to make parting easy.




this is the first casting. a few problems with resin leaking out a bit on both ends but sorted out now




this is ready for clean up









3 lifeboats made ready for seating etc




this is the resin i use 



here they are in place ready for more work on them






not the best way of doing casting but I find it does the job for me and that's all that matters. hope to progress more now I feel better in my self


david

looking very good  David, and as you say......works for you.....neat bit of moulding too.

hi there,
 i have now been able to start the completion of  s.s. cordene after a long period  by sorting all the white metal bits, 
I started sorting out what goes were then painting on a board with double sided tape so as not to paint my self,  them once dry I used super glue to fix in place. i find this scale  1:96 very fiddly as i cant grip very well with right hand, so keep dropping them. i would advice any one with hand problems not to do this scale.
The booms for the rigging are made from dowel which was not in the kit. i painted them with fence stain and have come up great. the parts for them to rest on are bits of brass shaped as there is nothing in the kit for them. but look ok





these are the tiny blocks  which are very tiny















the ropes i have used some cotton then dyed it to look like hemp rope









I have still got some way to go with this build i have  the railings to fit and boy are they tiny



david

Hi David - its good to see you back modelling. Its coming along nicely. I agree with you about very small fittings - my fingers are too fat and if I use tweezers they fly everywhere

Barrie

hi all,

i have now finally finished my build of s.s. cordene. it has been a long time since i started it and never  thought i would finish, but here it is the end.




the hand rails are a joke for any body with problems holding tiny parts by the end i said i would never build in this scale again




i have used cotton for the rails as when i used the brass wire i keept bending all the posts as they are so soft the metal. i dipped the end of the cotton to help make threading it easy   but got there in the end





first one done a lot more yet to do 





aft section done, then i started to paint it black,  the wife said why are you painting it black, so i told her thats what colour the rails are, then she said why did you not use my black cotton      I now no I have lost it    




rigging is now all complete used white cotton again but stained it with some wood dye to get the look of hemp rope you cant see very good on the photo




i will  show you the water test later as i have done all water tests and run it on my pond today but not down loaded photos yet. if i dont have another wobble


david

Those railings look excellent David. 

Barrie

here is S.S. CORDENE completed and on the water. boy what a delicate thing 1:96 scale is the parts are so tiny i have had problems feeling them as i have lost some use in my right arm  so this scale is now out of bounds for me keeping to 1:48 and below  .




the motor is a 380 7.5 volt,  esc is mtroniks 15 amp and i use a spectrum dx6i transmitter, battery is a lipo 7.2 volt
i have found the cast prop which is 40mm very unbalanced and causing some vibration, so i will see what brass props are available and try that. as there is no rush due to this virus i will shop around.





apart from prop every thing is working ok 





this is the best about having my pond i can still sail all my smaller boats





I have just noticed that, i have forgot the most important thing for a ship , her name something else to find and do. 
I am looking now to see what i can build next  ,
I will update when i can get some letters made up.
Thanks for viewing i hope someone  out there will have a go at building and get the enjoyment i get.

david

David

I can cut you some vinyl letters if you wish, although given the scale I'm not sure I can get them small enough. The absolute minimum I can go is 5mm tall, and that depends a bit on which letters are involved.

Let me know if I can help.

Barrie

hi barrie,

thanks for your offer,  i have worked out that 1:96 = 3.175 mm you say you can only go down to 5mm, i dont no what the extra 2 mm will make, will it make it more solid LIKE THIS COMPARED to this, i do not want to waste your time. if its a big job

thanks david

David

He has better equipment than I do, but mine are free! I will give it a try later and let you know before the end of the day.

Barrie

David - I have tried 3.2mm, 4mm and 5mm and can't get successful results with any of those sizes. My machine is some 40 years old and I can only use it on Windows XP. I think that perhaps its time to retire it

Barrie

hi barrie,

no problem thanks for your offer and trying to do it. as i have said i dont think i will be doing that scale ever again its a mad scale when you have age problems better for the younger ones. i will see what there is fred1948 has put a link on so i will see were that leads to.

thanks david

i have bought some bec letters, but i have found it very difficult to apply them, not very pleased but from a distance they look ok ,  will have to do.







i have coated them with varnish to protect them. just need some good weather to sail it as we have had gales all week

david