My Next Project - Marina II

Two planks fitted each side at the keel. These went on reasonably easily using aliphatic glue.  I think I will continue from these two for a while. As I dont expect you want to see photos of each plank going on, I'll leave it until I get more done - or hit a problem


Barrie

I'm continuing to add planks - now working from two ends. I laid one plank without trying to follow the bulwarks line and will continue from that, then fill in the gaps later

Barrie

The planking is almost finished now - just a few tricky ones to fit each side. I've filled in some of the gaps and it will soon be time to get out the sandpaper and filler 

Barrie

Today I managed to finish the planking - thanks in part to some heavy rain which trapped me in my workshop 
There is some tidying up to do and the bow and stern to fill out with balsa, then the sanding and filling can start.  Its a good job this isn't going in the water as there is no access to most of the interior to be able to line it with glass and resin. I don't at the moment intend to cover the outside with tissue or anything, but it may be necessary - we will see. 

Barrie

 

  nicely done Barrie.

Thanks Damien. I started sanding today - its going to need lots   Its also going to need some filler and more sanding, but at least the planks are on

Barrie

My adopted middle name is filler............nowt wrong with it, lol.

Started to apply the filler today, then ran out  Went to Halfords and they don't stock EasyLite, at least not at my branch, so had to buy some P38. I have almost got the stern correct using some balsa and some filler. Bows need some more work, as does a lot of the hull , but its coming along. I will fix the keel next job so I can fair in to that.

Barrie

 

p38 is quite a nice soft sanding filler so you shouldn't have any problems with it and the balsa.

Yes Neil - I've used P38 before. I think it was Stavros who suggested there was an advantage in using Easylite, but I can't remember what that was 
Anyway, or as we say in Yorkshire, onyroadup, I have been applying P38 and sanding. The keel is now fixed and faired in. Another couple of sand and fill cycles should see the hull almost ready for painting - just a strip round the planking/bulwarks join and a rubbing strip on top of that.
The pictures show the hull waiting for the filler to dry ready for sanding next session.

Barrie

 

Nice work Barrie. I wouldn't have a clue what to do on a kit that complex

Its not all that different from the one you are building  . You built the frame and then covered it with sheet material. I built a frame and covered it with small sheets - or planks  This model is not intended to go in the water, therefore the planking doesn't have to be too good as filler can be used to fill any holes. The advantage of this method for me is that it takes longer to build
 If this was going in the water, I would cover the inside and out with resin and tissue or fibre glass. Only if you need to show the planking detail does this become a real challenge as you then can't rely on filler 

The real challenge on this kit for me will be all the rigging. Not so nimble fingers and no longer 20:20 vision will see me struggling.


Barrie

For the moment, filling and sanding is finished  Having said that, every time I look at the hull in a slightly different light I see more blemishes.  I will however wait until I get a coat of primer on it before doing any more. I have soaked the rubbing strakes in hot water and tacked them to the hull to dry. These are made from African Walnut for some reason, and its not a very nice wood to work with - it splits too easily and sort of de-laminates when bent (it is solid wood). I can't clamp this to hold it until the glue dries, so I may have to use superglue to fix it. Once that and the fenders are fixed on top I plan to spray the hull with primer. 

Barrie

The hull is now ready for a coat of primer  If the weather listens to the forecast today, it should be just about warm enough in my garage to spray it . The rubbing strakes and fenders are fixed, and the hull has had two coats of sanding sealer, which was still wet when the photo was taken.

Barrie

that looks magnificent barrie...............why can't I get my POF builds looking as good.....lack of patience as I get older, lol.

Thanks guys. I did manage to spray it yesterday, but haven't examined the hull closely. Unless there are any major holes I an inclined to leave it and proceed to painting, or maybe build some superstructure. I have bought some M4 studding as when finished I want to mount it on a plinth. I will have to fix these into the keel before I build anything on deck or I wont be able turn it over to drill the holes in the keel.

Barrie

So - to return to Marina. The hull looks quite good, just one or two holes to fill, but as a display piece it is good. Next job should be to paint the hull, but the weather in the UK is not really conducive to painting being cold and damp at the moment, so I am going to build some superstructure and hope the weather improves.
First job was the fish boxes - a really fiddly job cutting and gluing all those corner pieces   When the glue is fully dry, then it will require sanding to level the tops of them.
Next job will be the main cabin.

Barrie

 

Next up is the main cabin structure. The floor of the upper area is planked as the main deck. It needs sanding then staining before continuing with the wheelhouse etc. The corners of the lower cabin are a bit of quadrant beading with rebates cut to fit the ply sides. These need sanding and filling to give a final fit.
Its now left under some weights to allow all the glue - Aliphatic - to set herd.

Barrie

 

Although I have been busy for the last two or three days, there is not much to show for the effort. I am working on the wheelhouse which needs careful planning to get the assembly and painting in the correct sequence. Once built it will be difficult if not impossible to paint the interior so I am having to do that and wait for paint to dry - slowly in this weather  In fact I have just brought some pieces inside to harden off.

Barrie

'Lost' a day yesterday chasing a WiFi problem on my wife's laptop - which cured itself when I left it switched on to have lunch . Then at lunchtime heard that the cruise company we had booked with for September had gone into liquidation, so spent the afternoon finding and completing the ATOL forms to claim our deposit back. Will have to search the brochures again.

So today, I decided I needed to paint the outside of the wheelhouse sides and front before I glaze the windows and stick it all together.



This is the structure I am trying to build. There is also some interior detail, which is ready to install. I am not quite sure how I am going to do the curved bits. The illustration doesn't look to me to be a very good way of doing it. The roof needs to be on, so it wont be possible to smooth and paint the inside. I did think of using some 1.5 mm (the thickness of the ply pieces) plasticard, but it wont bend that tight. I may try some 0.8 mm ply - double thickness, or possible use some paper to back the strips. Anyway, its going to take another few days to finish this part.

In painting these parts I have used some acrylic primer/undercoat instead of sanding sealer. It doesn't react with the Humbrol enamels and produces a nice surface. Having established that I did some work on the hull, filling a few holes and sanding at all back, then I gave it a coat of the primer/undercoat ready for painting.

Barrie

A bit of lateral thinking. Instead of paper, I used 0.25 mm plasticard to back the strips. Its white and stronger than paper. I used CA to stick the strips on. This way I was able to leave the roof unglued, which still gives access for glazing. 

 

In fact there isn't much showing inside.



Now to fill and sand to a good shape, then I can paint them, and get the glazing finished. I have used the double sided tape Neil recommends - it is certainly stickier than any I have previously used
Looking at theat photo I can see that I've lost a button from the control panel
Barrie

Excellent work. 

I wasn't happy with the right hand side in the above photo, so I removed it and remade it. Now had the filler applied and a first coat of primer. This shows up where I need to add some more filler
I've also started making the funnel - this is again built up from some formers and then planks. I've done about half.
Sailing Grandson's new boat tomorrow, so no building.

Barrie

So - after an interruption to de-clog a drain, the funnel is finished planking. After plastering with filler it looked like this



and after sanding and a coat of primer it looks like this



It still needs a little work with the filler I think.

Whilst I had the mix of P38, I applied it to the wheelhouse and that has also been sanded and primed again. I hope that is ready for top coat tomorrow.

Barrie

The wheelhouse has now had a couple of coats of satin white, the final piece of glazing installed, and the back wall and roof installed. Installing the roof burst a couple of joints which need to be re-filled and painted again. In fact, there is a visor to attach which will disguise the joints. The photos of the completed model show a line of rivet heads round the bottom of the wheelhouse which I will fit, but I also intend to run a narrow band of plasticard round there as well, and them pin through that.

I'm pleased the wheelhouse is finished - it was getting tedious, but there is still lots more to do on the whole cabin structure. When the upper deck is complete it needs to be planked, and there is a coaming to fit round the rear.
The portholes supplied are white metal, so I think I need to paint them with brass paint pretty soon, so that I can install them.

Barrie

The top of the wheelhouse has now been planked. Apart from that I have been battling to fit the top of the funnel - this is etched brass, first time I've used this stuff. Getting it fixed to the top of the funnel was a real struggle. I've had two attempts, and I hope it will look reasonable when I've sanded the filler. Part of the problem was that it was quite springy, so didn't want to stay in the shape I formed .

 

My other challenge has been the corners on the coamings. Once again the instructions show them built up from strip wood - which is OK, except that I don't see how to smooth the insides, so having got most of them on - see photo - I have removed them and will adopt the same solution I did for the wheelhouse, and use a backing of plastic card.



Barrie

Looks very tricky. But great work

 

I've now re-done the corners on the coamings, although from the photo I see one could do with some work  The outsides will be filled and sanded smooth, then painted.

The funnel is now looking neater - just a few spots requiring sanding or filling. I will paint it in its final colours before fixing in place.



After these jobs, there is some more brass etching to fit on the roof of the wheelhouse to make a visor. I hope it goes on easier than the funnel trim

Barrie

I've decided to suspend this build for a while. The next steps require a lot of painting - stanchions etc, and painting in these temperatures is no fun. I can get my workshop warm whilst I'm in there, but the paint is like treacle. So I will wait until we get temps above 10 degrees again.

Barrie

Well, the temperature hasn't quite reached 10 degrees, although that is forecast for this week, but I have made a start. Yesterday I painted the blue on the funnel, and also the bottom of the cabin. Today I painted (again!!!) the upper part of the cabin - I hope this is the final time
I also painted the fish boxes which I made some time ago, and also the stanchions ready to start 'dressing' the cabin roof etc. The funnel has also had some fittings added and the top painted black. This is now ready to be fixed to the cabin.

Barrie

How about we share the temp at half way was 95F here today Barry.

The model is looking real good mate.

Yes - we could do with a little heat. We are supposed to get to about 10 degrees during the day for the next few days, and no frost at night.  It should allow the paint to flow more freely.

Barrie

A few more bits assembled and painted. The companionways have be made for some time now, but only just painted today.



I am currently trying to work out how to make the steps up to the top level shown here. 



The instructions say to use 3mm wood strip, but there is no way I could make them to look neat and there are two other similar sets to the lower deck as well. I am currently thinking of using 3mm L section plastic strip, which might give me a fighting chance of getting them equal and level

Next job is to start fitting out the top deck with the white pieces in the photo,, then the railings.

Barrie

Today I gave yesterday's items a second coat of paint, then fitted the portholes. These are un-glazed. 
The main job was fitting the deflector and sunshade to the wheel house. This was in three pieces of etched brass. It was quite tricky to line up the 3, and impossible to fit the shade without a big gap between it and the deflector, so out came the filler.
Next job is to smooth the filler and eventually paint it all. Only then can I start on the railings. There is some more work to be done on assembling fittings, and I could fit the doors and hand rails to the lower cabin now everything is painted. 

Barrie

After some sanding and a little more filler, here is the result  Another coat of paint and this should be finished - onto fitting railings  . In front you will see my steps - the 3 x 3 mm strip arrived today from Cornwall. Very cheap compared to other suppliers.
I've attached these to some 0.25 mm plasticard to make it easier to get them square. Once the paint is dried I will mask off the backing and paint the treads black. I think this will give a better result than trying to stick 3 mm strip wood direct to the model.

You will see from the photo in the manual that there are brass pins round the bottom of the wheel house. I was going to fit these, and bought some dome head pins on purpose, but I don't think these would have been polished brass on the original, and can't see the point of applying them and then painting them - what do you think?

Barrie

it is looking really beautiful in those colours......and a fine model she is making Barrie.

still think ya  should have squeezed a motor n gear into her, lol

A bit more progress over the last few days. I had a slight setback when a new tin of the blue paint was a different shade to the previous. Had to repaint quite a bit, including the cabin.
I have discovered the first real problem with the materials supplied in the kit. All the brass rod for handrails etc is supplied in coils - and its hard brass. I wont straighten by stretching. Luckily I have some suitable sized soft brass so have been able to start the handrails.
Apart from what you see here, most of the fittings have now been built and painted.

Barrie

Where's the week gone? Bad weather, trying to load my daughters' EPOS system onto new hardware, setting up a Forum for Arduino and Radio Control in models I guess. Well the temperature is rising a little, EPOS can wait and the Forum is up, so its back to modelling.

All the railings are now fitted. Still to be painted. These are not quite as per the instructions, mainly because the stanchions supplied are not as per the photos. So, only one row of railings not two. Also only one handrail down the lower steps as not room for two
All the handrails have been fitted, again the supplied items didn't quite work, so I used some thicker brass rod. The doors to the lower cabin have been fitted also.

Barrie


 

Very nice Barrie. 

Thats really looking good 


Dave

Thanks Guys.

After more time lost to my unpaid position as chief computer fixer to the family I managed to do a little more today. Its still mainly fiddling about painting fittings - here you see a batch nearly ready to fit.

Barrie

I made a little more progress today - after finally fixing the EPOS problems

I have started making the RDF aerials and the radar scanner mast. Both these involve some tricky wire bending and soldering. I am also trying to understand how the navigation light boxes are fixed on. I suspect the supplied stanchions are not as tall as those depicted in the photos - note the number plate doesn't really clear the deflector.

Barrie

That's the radar mast. The RDF is even more tricky.

Barrie

Radar and RDF masts completed and fixed. 

Barrie

LUVVLY JUBBLY, BARRIE.