Jupiter, a Caledonian macBrayne Ferry

inertia wrote:

nhp651 wrote:

sorry Dave it has completely slipped my mind to send you the dosh

That's OK, Neil - don't forget that I know where you live....

BTW Sorry if grandmothers and eggs suddenly spring to mind but do remember that you really ought to buy something from Steve Webb's; after all, they didn't supply either the Tx or Rx. Also I wouldn't take the model into the shop to start with - it's just the Tx/Rx binding you're having trouble with. A Rx battery pack and a servo would do nicely. I speak as a former model-shop assistant who was frequently requested/expected by customers of other model shops to rectify problems which those shops were unable to help with. I could tell you some tales...
Dave M

cheers dave.....
no mate, just taking the model to float at new brighton n test for leaks.........Fleetwood lake is too low for my back, lol..........sorry if I gave the wrong impression there........I have a list of glues I want, two anchors and some BECC lettering for my lifeboats as well.........not a model shop around here to go to for the stuff I need, so looking forward to the visit.
neil.

I wish I were coming with you. We've not had a decent model shop in Nottingham for years. Gee Dee is OK for balsa cement and Humbrol enamel but for 99% of what I need I have to use "mail-order". I suppose it's not that much of a recent phenomenon; I remember Roland Scott and Henry J Nicholls were specialising in it when I was a nipper. The only difference these days is the Internet and the scope of what you can buy from anywhere in the world. Just amazing, although there's no substitute for a good old 'hands-on' when you're browsing!
Ah well, I get my Old Age Pension starting a week next Tuesday so I won't have to pretend to be a genuine old f*rt then!
BTW there are no 'Notes' in our family, but both daughters-in-law run Nissans - a 'Juke' and a 'Quashquai'. Both were bought as kiddy-wagons and seem to serve that purpose very well.
Dave M

inertia wrote:

Ah well, I get my Old Age Pension starting a week next Tuesday so I won't have to pretend to be a genuine old f*rt then!
Dave M

I haven't needed to pretend since early June, lol............not that I needed too before that date.

Got mine in March.  

Now we are three genuine old farts!!!

Mike

gribeauval wrote:

Got mine in March.  

Now we are three genuine old farts!!!

Mike

I'm very proud to be included in your distinguished company, gentlemen - even though I've never built a model lifeboat.
Now why do I suddenly think of Foggy, Clegg and Compo?
DM

I fit the bill of compo, .......now which of you two is foggy, lol.

6 and a bit months to go for me to join the club where'd the time go?

All you youngsters  it almost 11 years since I joined the club , and anyway only one of the three of you come from the right county to fit the roles.

Barrie

thanks Dave, for the help with the tx, mate..........money on its way Monday.

went down to Steve's domain in Frodsham   [brought back lovely memories as I used to do much courting on Frodsham heights with a long lost beautiful lady whilst at college in Liverpool] and although Steve is on long term sick, one of the guys had it all done in a few minutes................do I have to do anything else or will the memory in the tx and rx keep them in sinc if I leave them alone whilst the build goes on.......but great help from very friendly guys, and I was also able to buy some extension leads and some much needed glues to help finish the model.

Glad to hear this, Neil. All I can tell you is that every one of my receivers has remained "bound" to its transmitter, so you should have no problems. This Hitec is classy stuff, not Chinese junk.
Dave M

I agree with Dave - I've never had any 2.4 ghz receiver come unbound. When I did think this was happening it was the Tx which was faulty - switching on only the power on LED, not the radio

Barrie

cheers guys.

all set now to start getting it all set up.

neil.

I finally found my lead so that I could download pictures of Jupiter finally in the water.........and thankfully not a leak in sight from the Voith Schnieder units.......hooray.......onwards and upwards.

And plenty of freeboard still left to put all the batteries and motor vehicles onto the car deck...........luckily, lol.

Off now back to the fitting out and graving docks to have the complete fit out..........mind you this build has probably taken twice as long as the real vessel took place to build, launch and be ready for service, lol.

Nice work coming a long very nicely 

Imcc wrote:

Nice work coming a long very nicely 

very very slowly unfortunately.

She's a blurry beaudy mate           

Nice to see it in the water Neil - hope it will spur you on to the finishing line.

Barrie

barriew wrote:

Nice to see it in the water Neil - hope it will spur you on to the finishing line.

Barrie

yes it has done Barrie.........given me the enthusiasm to get going. my daughter goes back to sea tomorrow until late February, so as soon as I have tidied up after the whirlwind struck a month ago, lol..........I can get down to it, but bringing it indoors tonight to do a little under the shelter deck and then...all systems go.

It will be ready for next summer holiday in Scotland..........will take her back to her home waters for a sail.

neil.

Damien wrote:

She's a blurry beaudy mate           

lay off the sauce matey...........far too much bundeburg, lol.

Monumentous movement today.......brought the old girl in from the cold so that I can do some work on her inside..........so hopefully by the end of next week the main cabin and boat deck will be attached.....hip hip hooray!!!



.

First job will be to sort out the photos and papers on the aft deck and cut out the many notices and stickers that go under the shelter before the deck goes on...........should be fun, lol.

well I and it have been sat there now for 3 weeks, hoping that a miracle would happen and my chest infection would go away in jerky movements, but realised I'd have more chance winning the lottery and don't even do it, lol.

so I got off my backside and brought some gear in........my drills and deck.

Marked out the  anchor hawse holes in both the deck and the hull, and set to drilling and filing. the chain tubes now fit and so the next bit of fitting out under the deck can be done..............small steps lead to big leaps, lol.

Even christened it with a couple of beers, nice strong ones too.

Well I have had a good heart to heart with another member over the last couple of days or so about something that has weighed on my mind for a good long time and got me into a dark place, and have decided to shake off those anchors weighing me down and having me becalmed in the doldrums.....

and we decided it wasn't the sort of place I should be visiting..................as it was just having an adverse affect on my home life and my modelling.............well I have done sod all since January, and before that it was much earlier last year............this is not my style and so over the last couple of days I have cast aside those gremlins and begun to crack on with it.

the main stumbling block that I just couldn't surmount was the fitting out of the under shelter deck to the main accommodation lounges.

I had all the stuff to detail sitting in boxes and painted.....just couldn't be arsed doing anything with them...........but hey presto and a couple of hours and it's detailed.

the next part was to put the two passenger gates port and starboard and the safety grills in place. done!

All these parts have been made and painted some months ago if not a year been so slack with the boat.

Well done Neil. It is so good to see you modelling again. 

Barrie

It feels good too mate............a great relief............the painting leaves something to be desired but it will be cleaned up before the deck goes on......

Mind you I never have been the greatest of persons with painting. I loose patience with it when I have to watch it dry lol.

Neil.

















The porthole "glass" was put in using high tack waterproof double sided sticky tape that I have recommended many times..........it really does work or I wouldn't use it.

And finally for the last part of the two day binge, I have fitted the main support bulkhead to the two upper decks with the wire safety mesh and then painted with Halfords appliance brilliant white.

The mesh was "stuck unto the frames, again using double sided sticky tape.......far easier than glue and far less messy.

I once used it to "glue" in wire  grp reinforcing mesh to the inside of the main cabin of my Imara, driven by twin steam engines and a boiler.......if the stuff can withstand that heat and moisture it can hold up to a British summer on the lake lol.





it comes in different widths but is micro thin so doesn't raise the acetate or other things more than 0.25 mm

Looking real GOOD Neil glad your back at it.

As said, it's good to see progress.

We can all learn from other folks methods and tips.

I'd made a mistake..........the wire mesh didn't cover the whole aperture in the rear bulkhead frame and so this was chopped and rectified before I went any further to the position shown in these later photos.

it was then sprayed with Halfords appliance gloss white................and glued it to the main cross beam.

AND THEN IT WAS TIME FOR THE UPPER LOUNGE DECK..........

a moment I have been waiting for for a good long while but just couldn't bring myself to doing.......a mental block............call it what you want......was just not ready for tackling it..........but now it is here........it was just so simple.

the glue (aliphatic resin as the adhesive) goes on.......the deck follows with  plenty of clamps and then the whole thing is weighted down with old car/boat batteries and left to set over night.

Hey presto......the other upper boat deck will now be a synch.

Well done Neil - the thought is often worse than the deed

I can see that this one will see the water before summer is over.

Barrie

I hope so Barrie.....my daughter has been asking for the last two summers up in Largs if it would be ready........I've got till the last week in July.

Moving on a pace now, this morning I fitted the main bulkhead rear wall to the upper lounge area. This is a sturdy lump that will give support and iron out the curve in the upper superstructure which has sagged since moulding it 18 months ago.

I needed to glue this down with aliphatic resin as was timber to timber, giving a stronger bond.The structure was weighted down using my batteries again and left for 4 hours to dry set and cure

It needed a little filling at the base of a couple of walls once the batteries had been taken off which was done with polyester car body filler.

Whilst filling these gaps I also filled the edges around the fore deck in readiness for fitting that area out.

Next job will be to seal the aft of the new deck with cellulose wood filler and then paint that area, and then add fittings, doors, centre and side companionways to upper and lower decks , lifebelts etc and a few passenger figures, before the main superstructure goes onto it.

aiming to get the lounge superstructure and boat deck on by next weekend, and detailed underneath, so have been out till now in the workshop doing a little more filling and then tweaking the grp moulding to fit the already in place parts.......a little filing here and sanding there and it fits...........but I am going to heat it up with a hot air gun to make it supple and easier to fit.the small pencil sander, the only decent thing I have ever bought from proxon that has lasted any decent length of time[ wouldn't recommend them to anyone I'm afraid] is a god send for getting into small tight places.

Once fitted it will be taped down in situ to cool off and set in the position I need.....but for now, i'm going to have a beer or two and cheer myself on for getting myself over the blues, lol.....tomorrow is another day.

Progressing nicely Neil. 

Today I finally gave up trying to fit the boat deck and the side windows attached as one moulding. The moulding had sagged beyond the capabilities of being reheated and being hooked over the flanges of the hull and as such I had to do something...........and so I cut the moulding into 3 pieces. The two side plates and the top and front as one piece.

This will give me the capabilities of gluing the sides first and then the top/front, later .

thr gaps left on the top between the 3 different mouldings is of no consequence as this deck is covered by a ply sheet and planking.

This is back to the old Neil - great progress

Barrie

barriew wrote:

This is back to the old Neil - great progress

Barrie

what you mean barrie.........1 step forward and two back..............or how to remedy cockups......the easy way, lol..........either way matey........yep that's me back to my old ways lol.

Now on the previous post, last photo there is a small square hole on the aft deck of the boat deck.......this is for a companionway down to the lower deck which has to be made.

I had already cast a stairway to form the companionway and had to be surrounded with "steel" plating for safety of passengers. I fabricated this with 1.5mm birch faced ply and 2 part epoxy resin.......fits nicely, and now before anything else the lower deck has to be planked.

I do love planking of decks, but on this occasion I am going to cut some 1/64th ply and mark the 5mm wide planks with pencil rather than individually plank the under deck.

Once this has been done and all the cabin sides and deck have been sealed with cellulose lacquer I will paint it all and detail it before putting the deck on.

the plank edging has been mitred in on the lounge deck and the companionway has been sited and glued in.

tomorrow I'll finish the planking with the marked sheets and then seal it all.

The first part of the detailing of the lounge deck was to plank the deck............I normally would plank individually but as this is hidden for most parts except when scrutinising at a show I just drew the planks on scraps of 1/64th Ply and cut them into strips to fit.

Far quicker and looks fine. the length of the "planking " on that deck from the rear white bulkhead to the further most Lunge bulkhead would not have staggered planking either.

the last shot is of the whole area with the first coat of sanding sealer on the timber. it will be rubbed down after each coat with fine wire wool to give a smooth hard finish ready for the deck heads receiving their paint.

hi neil,

its really beginning to look like a real ship now. I hope you keep up this pace now ,  you can now see the end in sight and what a nice gift for your daughter.

Oh, I got my mojo back now David, LOL......and enjoying what I am doing.

Lounge deck passenger embarking gates made....made from 2mm plasticard, and resin cast hinges.

Hey Neil - who's racing along now?

Barrie

cut and painted the bulwark and bulkhead reinforcing brackets tonight, ready for fitting tomorrow.

 Galloping to the finish now Neil. 

yep I agree with everyone too, it's good to see so much good progress   keep it up

lounge deck cabins now painted the light blue of the Calmac colours.

the whole of the deck planking was masked off with duck tape first to avoid over paint.

also painted the insides of the passenger embarkation gates.