Barnett for Windermere challenge

The Falmouth Severn has been delivered and so it is time to start on the 52ft Barnett I intend to use next year for the Windermere Challenge.

Not too difficult to make a start as I still have the patterns for the frames I made when building RNLB Colby Cubbin No3 which was the Barra Island lifeboat.

Link to the build video:      https://www.thercmodelboatforum.com/t1525-not-left-the-country


Build board prepared, frames drawn and cut, keel laminated and set up. Frames glued in place and bracing added.

which boat are you making it of, mike.

nhp651 wrote:

which boat are you making it of, mike.

Not made my mind up as yet.

All the frames have now been fitted and struts lock them all together at the upper edges. A pattern for the removable superstructure has been made, cut out then located on the top of the frames.






The tops  of the frames that  occur within this superstructure area have been removed leaving a huge hole for access to the hull interior. Extra timber pieces have been added and shaped to allow the fitting of the coaming.






Sub deck of thin ply next to be fitted and prop shaft positions drilled through the frames whilst access is easy.

Off to a flying start! There certainly is no holding you back thats for sure!
Good Luck with the build Mike,and I hope it all comes together well in due course.
Mick F
PS
STILL admiring my Severn,THE WILL!

The frames have now been fitted with stringers, the ends foam filled ready for planking and the stand for the boat built.





The sub deck has been sanded to the correct shape and the coaming cut, steamed and fixed in place.






The positions for the hatches in the deck have been plotted and lined out with 2mm square timber. The rest of the deck will be planked with 2x10 mm strip (already started!!) and the holes in the bulkheads for the prop shafts drilled out.

The rest of the stringers have been fitted and the hull is now strong and stable.



The deck has been planked and painted grey.




Hull now transferred to my planking cradle ready  for the next phase.

Planking is now underway!

First layer of the double diagonal planks started.

150th plank of the first layer in place !!!! That's 75 on each side.




Only 90 planks in this layer to fit!

SUPERB.

All the planks in the first layer have now been fitted! 

The whole hull has been given a coat of filler to fill the small gaps and the inevitable hollows. 95% of this filler will be sanded off






After much sanding, and my being covered in white dust all day, the hull is now ready for the next process, the linen interlayer.

again, a superb build, mike...….looking great.

The linen layer has been fitted onto the hull.

The hull was coated with slightly diluted pva glue and the wet cloth smoothed in place and clamped to keep it in place without wrinkles. Further coats of pva were then brushed onto the cloth and allowed to dry hard.




After drying the excess cloth was removed with a sharp scalpel and the hull is now ready for the next layer of planks. The gunwale edge will be trimmed after the second plank layer is complete.

brilliant!!!

The second layer of planks has been completed, filled as needed and sanded.



View from the bow.




View from the stern.




Diagonal planking makes pretty patterns inside the hull.




A start has been made removing the excess planking down to deck level.




Next on the agenda will be fitting the bilge keels.

that is one beautiful hull mike...…..looks fantastic.

Love the double diagonal Mike, I know it's the traditional way for Lifeboats, but I built the Hull of my Battleship the same way. Way back in the 20th century, I had to use good old Cascamite glue, which came as a powder, and had to be mixed with water. Wow what a job that was. 
Great memories of when I DID actually try to build something
Mick F.

The hull has now had the keels fitted, the fenders added and given the first coat of primer. This will then be followed later by two coats of undercoat, two top coats and at least two coats of varnish.






The rudder has also been made ready to fit later.



Prop shafts next to be fitted.

ORGASMIC!!!!………..JUST BRILLIANT.

Today has been a motive power day.

The prop shafts have been fitted and fixed into the hull.




The outer shaft supports have also been fabricated and fitted to the ends of the shafts in the tunnels. A little filler needed around the shaft/hull join to smooth out the gaps.




A decision on the motors to use has been made and this pair of brutes, bought a couple o years ago, recovered from the spare box. They are 12v car heater fan motors and at 7.2 volts only use 1 amp when free running and when an attempted stall is made by gripping the shaft only use 3.6 amps. These plus lots of batteries should do the job.




Couplings have been ordered so it will be back to painting tomorrow.

The two coats of grey undercoat have now hardened off so it was out with the glass reference table (£10 glass dining table from a charity shop!), set up the hull level across the beam, set the correct rise of the keel at the bow and draw the DWL with an engineers height gauge fitted with a pencil.




Then it was back to painting again!! Lower section masked off and given the first coat of anti foul.




Whilst all this waiting for paint to dry I have not been idle, I made the distinctive winch that sits on the forward engine casing.




More painting tomorrow.

Despite the terrible weather the painting has been completed on the hull.






The prop shafts and props refitted and, as the couplings have arrived, it's onto building the motor mounts.

Minor change of plan!!  One of the intended motors has developed a small problem with one of its bearings, so it was back into the spares box and a pair of Graupner 900's dug out and fitted into the hull instead. They will still do the job intended with only a minor increase in current consumption.




The rest of the control system has also been fitted, just need to sort the rudder position out and lock it in place.




A start has also been made on the superstructure and the first part of the sides cut out.






Boatyard now closed until next week as I am taking a break with my wife over the weekend as it's our 46th wedding anniversary on Sunday.

beautiful work mate, and congratulations of reaching such longevity and happiness in married life,...………..have a great weekend and good break.

nhp651 wrote:

beautiful work mate, and congratulations of reaching such longevity and happiness in married life,...………..have a great weekend and good break.

Cheers Neil, We intend to enjoy the break, unless I get withdrawal symptoms. If I do I will just have to go into the nearest RNLI station and look at a lifeboat until I feel better!!

on a matter of lifeboats, have a droooool at this lovely little collectors model for sale close by...……...what price would a collector put on this gem, made by a lifeboat man that actually served on her.... 

 Outstanding Neil 

Break over, back to work!


Had the Barnett in the test tank to check out the installed control system. She even turns without the rudder fitted!!


Now to fit the rudder and do some more work on the superstructure.

Finally got the Barnett off the building stand and onto its own supports as the cradle was putting too much side pressure on the upper bilge keels.




More work done on the superstructure. The sides cut out earlier are now fixed in place and the front engine room cover added. The curved section has also been built up and shaped.




The roof section has been made and the upper windows cut out. The frame for the rear screen has also been made and checked for fit.





The rest of the front and the windows have also been made.




However none of these parts can be fitted yet until the interior of the wheelhouse and the engine room bulkhead have been made and fitted, so a start has been made, beginning with the access hatch for the bulkhead.

Thanks for sharing your work on here, I am picking up lots of tips as you progress your build, I really look forward to your up-dates, thank you.

Latest updates on the Barnett build.

The sliding doors in the stern cockpit well have been made and fitted.




The portholes have been made and fitted into the superstructure.





In the wheelhouse the engine controls have been built, mainly using my new 3d printer, and fixed onto the engine room bulkheads.




The raised stools have also been made and are now in place.




Just have to make the steering wheel and binnacle then the rest of the cabin can be fitted followed by painting of the exterior in dove grey.

brilliant work matey.

Not many pictures to show for a weeks work.

The wheel and its support have been designed and made on my 3D printer and fixed in place.



This has allowed the fitting of the front section of the roof over the engineers position and faired into the nose section. The window sections have also been fixed in place.




The new helmsman has nipped in to check out that all is working correctly.

The doors have been made and fitted along with their sliders on each side. Soon be time to refit the roof!




Tracings of the exact shape of the deck edge at the bow and stern have been taken to allow the bases for the raised bulwarks to be laminated.




The bulwarks at the bow have now been made from many sections as per the real boat and are now ready for the top laminations to be added.




The stern bulwark bases have been glued to the deck and the sections removed where needed. The "holes" are where ropes can pass through to the sampson posts at the stern. All will become clear when the sides are added.

Just spent most of the week rebuilding my pc as the motherboard decided to give up the ghost!! Luickily all is now sorted and saved onto a new one.  

Updates on the Barnett build.

All the raised bulwarks have been made, painted and the short stanchions fitted at the bow and stern. The kick boards for the midships stanchions are also in place.





The main mooring post is in place as well as the anti slip battens on the deck.




The mast tabernacle and mast structure made and ready to detail.




The boat has been named and allocated its station.




Still a lot to do but it will be at Blackpool this Saturday promoting the Windermere Sail next year.

beautiful work and a stunning looking BIG BARNETT...…….just as I like them...……..look forward to sharing a spot with you this weekend  mike.

Blackpool show over, back to work!


The two deck hatches made and painted. The smaller one is the emergency escape hatch from the engine room. The large one with the cowl is for access to the forward survivors cabin




Large hatch in place on the foredeck.



small hatch in place on the engine room cover behind the winch.

luvvly jubbly matey.....…...love the windlass.

nhp651 wrote:

luvvly jubbly matey.....…...love the windlass.

Barnett is now finished and ready to go to her new owner.