SIR FITZROY CLAYTON Fleetwood,motor lifeboat

i'm having a little break until after the Blackpool show.

I am waiting for Adam at Mountfleet Models to bring me a set of mouldings for the 1;12 scale Tyne Class lifeboat which I will be building as the Fleetwood lifeboat William Street, 47-038.

but as usual I have dropped myself in it, and whilst talking to a gentleman at the 1940's Lytham St Annes 1940's classic rally in the lifeboat museum, I think I have dropped myself in it for building a model of the pulling/sailing lifeboat, a 35' Liverpool class lifeboat, now under restoration, the Blackpool lifeboat Samuel Fletcher, but I think i'll build two of them at the same time and call mine after the Hilbre Island RNLI boat Chapman...…….detail will be relatively easy as the boat is now a display boat at Lytham museum on the green……….

I am building mine as that boat because she served at Cromer for a short while and Henry Blogg, my hero served on her in the early part of the last century.






















and the last sad sight..……..the William street finally leaving Fleetwood for the last time  





so, two totally different builds from opposite ends of the spectrum,  but one I think i'll enjoy...…...

so look out for them this coming October/November.

Look forward to this build matey.

the first leap forward has been made, and I didn't expect it so soon.

today I received a nice long box from my good friend Dave Metcalf, and that could only mean one thing...……..a box with hulls in it, so eagerly opening it, I found two beautifully moulded Liverpool class hulls and their end boxes.

the hulls are ones that we generated when I was designing the twin screw motor Liverpool class lifeboat, that Dave is  developing slowly for release as a kit sometime in the future.

but it is as near as damn it to the old 35' pulling and sailing lifeboat that I want to build, and so is what I will use.

I now have to go to see the actual Samuel fletcher being restored in a factory workshop in Fleetwood to get some photos of her decks, thwarts and such things so that I can build [ no plans available] to as close as I can.

I am looking forward to building them [one to be presented to the Lytham St Annes lifeboat museum when finished, the other one depending on whether she was fitted with motor before she left lifeboat service will be either a pulling/sailing boat or a motor sailor.

how ever I have a couple of jobs to do in the workshop before I start, and that will include researching the motor situation.

so until then...…...here's a couple of pictures to compare the Liverpool's with the Shannon for size...……….think what they'd look like against a Severn.

by the way, before anyone says anything, the Samuel Fletcher was/is a 36' Watson, not a Liverpool...……...but the Liverpool is close enough for my liking, and sod anyone who doesn't lol. 

 I'm looking forward to this build Neil. 

I hope I don't disappoint, my friend.

first layers of filler have been sanded off, [of which I forgot to take photos], for the second layer to be added to fill in any "lows" in the original layer.

once this layer has cured tomorrow I'll sand off and any small vagaries  I will fill with surface scratch filler compound before sanding them with fine paper.

Wowzers

still a little more filling on each boat, but I think I have got it all now, ready for filler spray.

I THINK...well eck I KNOW you need a trip down ere with the hulls 


Dave

stavros wrote:

I THINK...well eck I KNOW you need a trip down ere with the hulls 


Dave

I'll do these ones matey, as they are simple ones to do...……..will save the more complicated one...…...the TYNE which I'm picking up at Blackpool from Adam at Mountfleet, As that is a little more complicated, and I know you like complication in your life,   

but thanks for the offer...…..I do appreciate it and your help.

[ltr]today was another dig around in my box of scrap timber to find something suitable for the two rudders.....

I found a nice piece of 6mm sycamore that my dear but sadly now deceased friend Terry Donn, [who used to own the brilliant model shop on Bold Street, Southport] gave me probably 10 or more years ago...[/ltr]

[ltr]it is a lovely timber to work with, very close grained and takes sealer and paint beautifully with virtually no grain visibility for this scale of model[/ltr]

[ltr]I cut the two rudders together, and fitted the lower pintle pin that slots into the rudder skeg.[/ltr]

[ltr]then marked out the rudder to simulate the planking that they are made from, and after measuring the RNLB CHAPMAN of Hilbre, they were/are about 15mm or 7" wide real life..[/ltr]




[ltr]I then simulated the plank joins by cutting thin groves with a craft knife, curved the edges with abrasive paper, and left it for tea.. i'll fit the upper pintle pin later when i have worked out what i am doing.lol. [/ltr]

 Outstanding 

Damien wrote:

 Outstanding 

……..cheers mate...………..I love working in nice timbers...…..my raison' d'tre

suddenly remembered from last time that I have to put in the deck beams before I put the box in for the drop keel...…..so started on the static boat first....as usual I cut the 10 x 10mm square beams across ways so that the beam will take the curve of the hull better.

I don't use the steaming method as it takes so long before you get to glue the thing together.

so I have put the 2 longitudinal beams[not yet glued in] but have glued the end cross members in, using 2 part epoxy...….have left it to set for a while and then will mark out the next lot of cross members in. 

this is now getting fun. 

I've done all I can do for tonight with the deck beams, as there are now too many clamps in such a small area...I have fitted all the cross beams and one centre beam …….but will finish it off by putting the remaining centre beams into the boat tomorrow.however, under each but joint between beams I have added a small support plate of 1.5mm ply, glued in place with 2 part epoxy. 

the motor sailor will be slightly different in configuration...…….look out for tomorrows instalment. 

the  deck support beams are now fully added to the static museum pulling/sailing boat and apart from cleaning the joints and gluing the frame into the boat, it is ready for the deck to be placed onto the boat, but this needs bilge keels making and these will be made from 6mm ply, but not until both boats are in the same state of readiness.





then I started the retaining box for the drop keel. this has been started and the 7mm spacers glued onto the ends of the first side of the box. the masking tape is to stop the 30 minute epoxy from staining the timber, for although the inside will obviously not bee seen I have to paint the interior with sanding sealer and then varnish to stop it rotting from sea water getting into the grain of the ply...…..once the glue has cured I will offer up the other side, sand the ends that are to be glued and mask those areas before painting all the interior edges with sealer and then varnish.

just bought my timber for planking the decks and inside bulwark hull, plus some thicker 3mm sheets of the same for the seat bench strips.

the thicker 5mm strips I shall cut from my lump of obeche for the bench supports...…….but it is lovely timber to cut, sand and then stain with mahogany, as it is of the same family as mahogany. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Obeche-Wood-Panels-100mm-x-450mm-x-0-8mm-Pack-of-3-Sheets-OBE0X3/141566543198?hash=item20f606055e:g:9rEAAOSwNSxU1NgD

Good to see you've not been idle while I've been away Neil. 

Looking good. 

Barrie

no mate...…...racing ahead.....am enjoying it...……….did you have a good holiday. 

i'm a genius really, lol............even if I have to tell myself that, lol 

my hatch idea has worked perfectly.

split it from the main frame holding it this morning, and it has given the perfect sheer line.........brilliant....

now just got to put in the holding trough to make it waterproof...…….but first got to go out and buy some paracetamol as I have a stinking cold.
the first part of modifying the end boxes has also come out right, so am buzzing this morning.

 Coming along great matey 

cheers mate..…………...I'm thoroughly enjoying this build, after the Shannon which became a drudge...…..
anyway...……..said all i'm going to say on that subject, the past is done and almost forgotten...…..just the recurring nightmares to deal with,   

this is the last post this evening...…
i have finished the watertight hatch, by putting a flange around the inside of the opening and then raising the upstands which make up the second part of the barrier to water ingression through the deck joint..

all parts, once set were cleaned up, sanded down, and cleaned off......it now fits snuggly but not tightly. I will tomorrow give both the inside of the hath and the hatch well some liberal coats of sanding sealer, rub down with wire [ steel] wool and once all the boat is finished it will be treated with a layer of Vaseline as a further part of the barrier against water ingression.

and finally, as with all my models where a wooden frame is used to support the deck, I put a gusset of body filler from the longitudinal beams to the hull side. not only does this "glue" the beams to the hull, but reinforces an impregnable barrier to the deck against water seeping into the hull in rough weather.
tomorrow, I am going to fit the under deck in small pieces, before attempting to fit the fore/aft bulkheads for the end boxes......should be fun.

[ltr]this morning , using the same card template I made the pieces for the deck.[/ltr]


[ltr]instead of making it in one piece I split it to a fore part running from the aft end of the keel box, to the bow. [/ltr]



[ltr]and the aft end was in two pieces, both port and starboard......thus enabling me to get a close up fit around the removeable hatch.[/ltr]




[ltr]two small cross pieces will be added once the three pieces have been glued.[/ltr]






[ltr]the adhesive that I will use to glue deck to beams will be my favourite timber to timber glue......Aliphatic quick grab resin. [/ltr]




[ltr]I got my old tube out ready and found it had gone a little lumpy.........no bloody wonder.....the "use by" date was 04/2013...

…………..think I was stretching its usefulness a little far........but that was the last time I used it on my other wooden lifeboats, lol …..

so ordered some new stuff today from a shop in Yorkshire, he was trying to get in the post yesterday....might be here today......and also waiting for my obeche planking material today tomorrow...….a process I just love doing.....honestly....love planking.



[/ltr]

I ordered my obeche on Sunday , and I ordered my aliphatic resin yesterday just after 14.00 hours...

both came today...……...and that is what I call excellent service from both companies, Hobbies of Attleborough in Norfolk, and Technologies ltd of Halifax...…….they were both very well packaged, and would recommend them to anyone as excellent service.

so, now I can get down to stripping the 0.8mm sheets into planks.

I had a trip down to our restoration boat, the Ann Letitia Russell this afternoon  to get the width of the deck planks, for I cannot see other boats would be much different, but whop but a rivet counter would care anyway.

they measured 3 n7/8ths" wide, or 95mm. and so, devided by scale of 1;12 they come to 8.91666r mm wide, so i'll yet again annoy the rivet counters and cut them to 9mm width...……...and so let cutting commence, lol.

NOW.....that didn't take long......a sharp knife, steel straight edge rule and a cutting board...…..and the job was done...…..108 planks of 230mm by 9 mm [ 9' x 4"] and 12 planks of 230mm x 11 mm [9' x 5.2"

the wider planks are the ends of the sheets, but are the same width as the "king plank" on the ALR...……...the central plank, laid along the longitudinal line of the deck, to which all other planks are butted up to...…..this makes it an easy job of uniformly laying the planks straight and even.

I just hope I have enough for both boats!!!

 coming on matey!!!!!!!   

cheers Damien...…….am really enjoying this build...…..

so today it was down to cutting some slices of obeche for the bilge keels on both boats.....taking the shape from the pattern I used on the original Liverpool class boat I cut some 8mm strips, and using the pattern, cut them out, . I sanded them on my linisher into pairs and sanded to fit each boat.
once done I marked out for pins to position and hold in place, instead of watching them slide all over the hulls as I attempted to hold them down with frog tape.
once pins of 0.8mm stainless steel had been fitted to the keels, I offered them up to mark for drilling the hulls........there is a raised marker strip moulded into the hulls for the bilge keels to locate on to, and the receiving holes were drilled into the centre of the strip.
finally 30 minute 2 part epoxy adhesive was used to glue them in.....the longer setting adhesive giving me time to get them set into position, and then weigh down with a large battery on a flat surface.

enough done for today and tonight.

I have put a small beading around the bulwark tops for the static, as these boxes are not raised like the motor sailor. and so much easier to fit the end boxes.

they will be shaped in the next day or so and the end boxes fitted. I will also fit the top bow box to the motor sailor but the stern box top has some internal fitting of a  servo for the rudder operation to  be made