Jupiter, a Caledonian macBrayne Ferry

redesigned the aft car deck in order to fit the servos at 030 position to the Voith unit.....not pretty but this can all be disguised by vehicles on the deck and also made watertight in the end.......but just thought I'd put some photos of the redesign so far.

have now sealed around the base plate for the Voith schnieder units to stop any chance of ingress of water around the units, and fitted the retaining boxes for the servos to operate the joysticks on the units.



















then it was a case of fitting the superstructures temporarily and also cutting the hole in the top of the wheel house so thet the upper deck can be fitted..........position as shown by the grp piece removed. to do this, I drilled around the area to be cut out, and then reamed out using the side of the drill bit.

spent today drilling all the little holes for the windows, doors and access through the main superstructure to the for'ard Voith unit.

In hind sight I should have drilled and reamed out the windows before I cut the hole in the roof of the wheelhouse.....would have been less flexing whilst drilling the windows.....aw well, you live and learn.

I have finally worked out where and how the cabins go on the lower car dack and the upper decks and so have now been able to glue the main car deck down using clips and old batteries...............I used aliphatic wood to wood glue which is waterproof and will be left to set until tonight. it looks more like a container ship at the moment than a car ferry, but all that weight will keep the deck from lifting. meanwhile I'll start measuring for the lower inner cabin....a lot will have to be done to the model, detailing wise before the next layer goes on so will be slow progress from now on.as quite a bit of the detailing goes under the shelter of the next deck and will be inaccessible once the next deck goes on.

managed to get some marking out done today to seat the inner lower car deck cabins.
it's a methodical way when space is at a premium but with the use of 6"  & 9" steel rules plus trusty engineers squares plus a 12" rule, managed to find centres and then mark out the positions for the cabin and bulkhead.














































then it was down to cutting the bulkhead and small offset cabin out of 3mm ply and gluing in place with 2 part epoxy glue.

finally got round to doing a bit of work on it....made the two engine room housings that the funnels sit on, glued them in place with 2 part epoxy and then cut out the main car deck ramp doors.

the blocks of wood inside the two housings are to locate brass tubes into which will allow eventually the removable quad mast to slide into when on the lake, but able to be dismasted for carrying in the car.








































cutting the sections out for the ramps was easy using a drill for the horizontal cut close to the deck and my trusty piercing saw for the verticals .
the last bit of cutting will be the rhomboidal cut outs of the bulwarks and upper casing.. yet to be cut in template form first.

Another  great build Neil.              

cheers Damien, but slow going at the mo.........so many things to think about before doing the next bit, lol

done a little more today.........

first cut as template for the side openings to the bulwarks and shelter decks where the passenger gates are for the gangways for foot sloggers..........

then it was a case of methodically and carefully marking these out as any mistakes would be a glaring mess.

also contrary to the plans, the two forward openings are the same size, same length and height where as the aft one is same length but of a lesser height than the other two.

the gates are all same width.

the rear ramp was also marked and all were cut out in my usual way of pilot holes and then reaming out using the side shank of the bit

I also marked up for the hull belting onto the hull, and cut the first layer from 1.5mm ply........this will be glued on tomorrow using 2 part epoxy.

all goes well, and hopefully once the first layer of belting is attached and set, a square stringer of obeche will be glued and pinned with brass pins to the wooden layer and then sanded to shape.

I can't believe it's been 11 weeks since I did anything on my daughter's Jupiter..................and looking back at the last post didn't do much then either........'bout time I got cracking........

anyway today I have been putting the first layer of the hull protection belting onto the ship.........it was marked out weeks ago, so only had to drill between the marks to give the glue some key holes to adhere into and then glue on the pre cut strips with two part epoxy..the stern curve was facilitated by steaming the strip in a kettle and then bending whilst still moist and holding in place till it dried......then glued and held with masking tape.

and another 4 weeks on and only managed to get some  protective belting onto the hull...........as Michael Gove says............I MUST DO BETTER,LOL

You might be pressed for free time but it is still progressing well Neil.    

not pressed for time Damien............just no enthusiasm for it at the moment..........don't know why...........just too good a sailing weather to be stuck in a workshop really.......not often we get so much sun so taking advantage of it.
neil.

Nothing wrong with that Neil enjoy.     

"A sudden thought came too my head"..........so the old poem says ( of origin I cannot remember)

what to do with the aft motor for the aft Voith Schnieder Pu.............and then whilst walking around Fleetwood's Transport sunday I met upon a man who had a stall.......

Now you see it, Now you don't!!!

the rest is explained in photos.

Avery clever idea Neil.           
If you put a mud flap across the back it'll hide the motor from the rear view.

now that's a good idea matey..........hadn't thought of that one.............cheers.

I'll disguise the mud flap as a little raised combing to stop the water getting down the hole should the deck flood.................and paint black and make it look as though it's attached to the van.   neil.

       

I'm enjoying this bit.............taking me back to my childhood and expectancies of Christmas day when I was 11 - 12 yrs old.........and waiting for santa to come..................and before you lot rib me about the old man in a red coat............yes I do still believe in St Nich, the Loch ness monster, yeti, big foot UFO's and ghosts,
and I can now relive my youth by buying a load of dinky and corgi cars and trucks to put on my ferry as cargo...........a couple of trucks and a couple of old classics next..........on their way to a highland Cowel Games classic car rally.

Are they off to a NUDE convention Neil?

I know the feeling I relived youth and pre 50 yo building my Renault laden Sea Road Lady.
Nostalgia is GOOD.       

Nostalgia is great Damien, lol...........................the ships were actually called the "streaker" class..............think these passengers are taking it one pace on, lol

the car deck is filling up especially with my favourite cars, especially a reminder of my own early classic cars.............just got to get hold of a triumph vitesse convertible in Valencia blue, a triumph tr6 in white and an mg b or c in numerous colours, lol, plus another semi trailer that my mate Wicker is sending me and we'll have a full load.
Meanwhile I visited the local model boat club at Largs whilst on holiday last couple of weeks.......and I cannot praise those guys for their friendship enough.......made me and my old friend Iain Crosbie ( ex owner of the Clyde lifeboat I modelled 3-4 years ago) so welcome when we visited, that one member had made a model of Jupiter, the boat I am modelling............and photos I took of this model will be immensely helpful when I come to detail mine.............I'll add some photos of the Largs member's boat after my own.

the reason why I am filling the car deck up at this early stage is so that I can work out a method of fixing them all, in order for me to be able to lift off the two access hatches for the interior, and also to stop light fingered people ( I am very cynical and untrustworthy since I had a trawl door nicked from one of my trawlers some years ago down at the lake at Fleetwood, and earlier this year a lifering and breaches bouy pad from one of my lifeboats this summer)................and when I see on ebay that the little caravan attached to the MGB on the front of the middle row now sells for £85.00 as it's a rare collecters item ( I bought it 25 years ago with the MG for a tenner) I am not going to have my nice collection stripped within minutes whilst my back is turned..................

sadly I have ,as I have got older begun to trust less and less.........a bad trait I know...........but one that protects my property.

I have tried to include some of the old cars/vehicles I have driven and owned over the years........................however one sparkling mistake but modellers licence is on the car deck................a mars bar to anyone who can guess what the none genuine mistake is!!???, lol

The red & white BMW badged as a Mini is non genuine.

I looking good Neil I found with my paddle ferry the vehicles made her somewhat top heavy, something to keep an eye on.

now you come to mention them Damien, they do look like minis fron above.............they are in fact Fiat 500L's....and the "mistake " is......they were released on sale in December 2013 and the ship was scrapped in October 2011.........so they would never have been aboard, lol

Haven't seen a Fiat since the last blue moon. 

haven't you got them down under yet then............they are a great car especially for old gits like me with mobility probs. neil.

I don't take much notice of cars unless they're coming at me on my mobility scooter.

well, thanks very much to a very kind friend from the north coast of Scotland for sending me that superb Articulated lorry, Charlie, has now completed the car load for the ferry.........arrived safely this morning and now positioned on the car deck...........I think I'll have to do a little adjustment to the load so that the vehicles that are to fit over the access hatches to the interior don't impede other areas and that the hatches can be lifted easily.

Once organised they will eventually be fitted permanently to the deck with screws and small blocks...................but the car deck is now full. neil.

Coming along nicely Neil. 

Well,after nearly two months I have finally finished my lifeboat plans for Dae Metcalf and my Thames Class lifeboat moulds and mouldings for Mike.......and a few other odd jobs including a little tidying of the workshop.......yes, don't all faint, lol

and so I got back to the Jupiter........First job was to re position the port side fenders at the stern.........they had mis placed them selves when I originally glued them and needed to be re aligned to match the starboard side.

Once done I filled the gaps between the deck and bulwarks with polyester filler.

Finally I marked out the starboard side wash ports aft of the funnel ( port side tonight.)

Had a problem here in that I have no stern shots of this boat and was in debt to a member called Onara on Model Boat Mayhem for posting some pics of the ships on a thread unrelated to this, and would have given me a good location shot for the wash port as it sweeps around the stern.........Went to look at the shots this afternoon, and sadly they have been removed, as someone on that site had complained that the photos ( although readily viewable on search engines were his copyright ,so am stumped until I can find others............but again, sadly I have searched the internet for some shots.....to no avail........c'est la vieWell,after nearly two months I have finally finished my lifeboat plans for Dae Metcalf and my Thames Class lifeboat moulds and mouldings for Mike.......and a few other odd jobs including a little tidying of the workshop.......yes, don't all faint, lol

and so I got back to the Jupiter........First job was to re position the port side fenders at the stern.........they had mis placed them selves when I originally glued them and needed to be re aligned to match the starboard side.

Once done I filled the gaps between the deck and bulwarks with polyester filler.

Finally I marked out the starboard side wash ports aft of the funnel ( port side tonight.)

Had a problem here in that I have no stern shots of this boat and was in debt to a member called Onara on Model Boat Mayhem for posting some pics of the ships on a thread unrelated to this, and would have given me a good location shot for the wash port as it sweeps around the stern.........Went to look at the shots this afternoon, and sadly they have been removed, as someone on that site had complained that the photos ( although readily viewable on search engines were his copyright ,so am stumped until I can find others............but again, sadly I have searched the internet for some shots.....to no avail........c'est la vie 

I have now been able to finish the stern scupper  slots off and also the bow ones including the hawse holes..............I have also taken the chance to file down to the marked lines all the grp on the viewing ports and all slots in the bulwarks..........look better now.

all the half rounded ends to the scupper ports was achieved with an old round file that I used to sharpen the blade of my chain saw with...........but it can also be easily achieved with a piece of sanding paper rolled into a tight tube. neil.

I am getting down to some detailing before the rest of the hull is ready at the moment, but felt that it was the right time.

I am undecided as to whether to make the three ramps as working features ( never been one for working features ona model as they tend to go wrong in the salt water that I sail on.............but because I am thinking about them, I have also thought about their construction, and so that my friend Andrew can also save some time, I have decided to make the ramps from plasticard and them mould them in Polyurethane resin for durability, and so tonight started on the Ramp base brackets whish will attach to the hull......these have also been made in plasticard and will be moulded in Poly resin.

the stern ramp is much narrower than the waist port and starboard ramps. you can see the brackets for the stern ramp on the two pictures of one of her sister ships attached to the base, just above the protective belting.

neil.

new recruit.......my little pooch has decided to help with the motors for the ramps..............but doesn't quite know what to do with them yet, lol

Cute i'm sure the slobber will be good lubrication for them r

she didn't help me though the other night when I made a monumental cock up after 5 hours work..........never told me a thing, silly mutt.

well, spent nearly 5 hours two nights ago constructing the rear ramp for the Jupiter......and then got a text this morning from my Mentor Andrew...........to say that the Jupiter ramp has a different configuration to the Saturn which I based the ramp on................I do wish these ship builders would make em all the same............well at least the new ramp will be an easier one to build, lol

even the Juno and the Jupiter are different in that the Jupiter has some "filigree" running across the width of the ramp, whilst the Juno doesn't.............so I will this time construct the ramp without the "filigree" and mould that plate separately so that it can glued on afterwards.

Excellent thread.

I always like wart’s, cock-up’s etc.
What I admire most is sharing those moments it’s how we all learn.
Think positive you have a start on the sister ship you already have the ramp, with the assistance of your little helper it would be finished in no time.

thanks Brian, but I've had enough of building two and even three models at a time......this is pure pleasure and in my own time scale, lol..........and I think will be the last scratch built model I will be doing...........winding down after 55 years or more and probably revert to the odd kit or two, which I enjoy building...........let someone else do the hard work.lol

so, onwards and upwards.............4 more hours tonight and the revamped ramp is almost ready, just the top bracket pivots to put on once I have made the top flaps to the ramp, and will start these tonight, finishing them off tomorrow............all this will then be put into rtv rubber moulds to take mouldings off.............then onto the side port/starboard ramps............will just make one of those which can then be moulded for both sides.

the "filigree" was made using my trusty compass cutter......a great little asset for the workshop.

Looks great Neil. 

cheers matey............and todays offerings are the top ramp flaps which are a bridging ramp from main to the harbour ramps...........these will be hinged to the top of the ramps.......the thinner one is for the port and starboard side ramps........and only one thinner flap fits at the end of the row of five flaps on the wider ramp......which I'll be making next.

finally got the two ramps ready for moulding and will make the mould boxes from Lego this afternoon.

Have shortened the hinge brackets to fit and added the brackets for the hydraulic rams which will all be moulded onto the ramp.

just a slight amount of sanding smooth before they go into the moulds though.

Looking good Neil 

Have you seen this Neil??  It's got your ferry inside.

hi neil ,

I have a copy of this magazine, if you want a scan of it let me have your email and I will scan it for you.

david

hi neil ,

I have a copy of this magazine, if you want a scan of it let me have your email and I will scan it for you.

david

Hi guys.........sorry I haven't replied before but was busy for a couple of days and then yesterday had a bad fall outside..........bashed my head on the concrete floor and ended up in A & E for three hours to be told I was ok , go home and lay off the alcohol.................so I did and fell asleep...........so having a beer now, lol......yes, thanks guys I have a copy of the magazine, but many thanks for the offer. cheers, neil.
so have done some over the last few days....

will post in a few minutes. neil.

all moulds for the two different sized ramps are now in their mould boxes and ready for the first halves of rubber to be poured in........that'll come later today









well, the RTV rubber moulds turned out well except for the stern ramp mould............this didn't go too well.. main reason was that when mixing the rubber and catalyst I tend to put a very small amount of tap water into the mix.........this rubber best cures when in a moist warm atmosphere such as an airing cupboard with emersion tank (an air drying room for our US cousins).......and because I don't have one, I asked the tech guys at Tiranti's ( font of all knowledge moulding wise) what I could do.........add a little water....similar amount to the catalyst to help curing.......sadly this time the water didn't mix too well, and left air bubbles in the area of the lattice work on the ramp.................so had to repair it.
 I cut some strips of plasticard and inserted it into the mould to make a grid pattern, and then mixed a little rubber and repaired the air holes ......turned out ok, but would have been better first time round, lol.....

 an then I cast a mould in polyurethane resin..............seemed to turn out ok, and with a little sanding they'll look a whole lot better.

once the moulds had been repaired I cut out the air release tracks in them for ease of moulding.


and then finally some moulds were cast.....they turned out quite well, with minor blow holes to one of the mouldings.......second ones should be better as I can rectify where they went wrong

BLIMEY, 2015 ALREADY.............. and only the basics done on this old girl...................must get a stonk on if I'm going to get the thing finished for this summer.............

been putting this job off for quite some time as it always ends in sore fingers and monotonous cutting and sanding down.............the Bulwark support stays..............don't know yet how many this vessel takes but I have cut just over 110 of them to make sure.

the height was measured and a strip of 1.5 plasticard cut to that height. then the stays were marked out, and a score line was made for each............56 per strip.
broken off in pairs, the inner water way was cut from them and then these in turn were broken apart.
Finally all were sanded flat.

Tomorrow I will glue the outer flange on to the edge that protrudes from the stay once it has been glued to the bulwark.thank goodness that job Is done!!!

added the outer flange last night to all 110 of them that I cut, now onto the cruciform bollards.making four of those so I can mould all eight in two castings.....

then onto the Colborne fairleads and the warping fairleads at the stern.....am going to leave the drilling of these till tomorrow.

the photos below show the beginnings of the cruciform bollards.

the base's cut out with the upright bollards ( made from old knitting needles) marked and scored using a small pad saw and my trusty V block.The use of the needle file is to mark centre for drilling for the horizontal bars.

then the horizontal bars cut to length from plaststruct, and then the end cappings for the bars cut from different diameters of plaststruct.
tomorrow after drilling they will be glued together using cyano and then put into a mould for casting.








so here is, ( apart from filling in the holes on the ends of the bars with milliput ) the four cruciform bollards that I will be moulding.

the other night, got down to making the masters for the goose neck vents that adorn the bulwark sides....so much easier to make them from plastic when cold moulding RTV rubber rather than masters in brass......and very much quicker..............and I knew those old cocktail swizzle sticks would come in one day............only took 15 years to find a use, {-) {-)

the rounded goosenecks were heated over a candle before bending.