like a kid in a sweet shop

stavros wrote:

You DAMAGED  my PAINTWORK  how dare you .....KEELHAULING  springs to mind

NO MATE.....honist mister...…...just had to strim off the over spill of the adhesive and so I just went over the little bits after i'd trimmed the rubber glue...……….

ssseeeeee, honist mister its as good as new, honist. 











whilst I was waiting for paint to dry on my Shannon, I made the aft flying bridge step up to conning level...…..it was missing from the kit, and so made it from 2.5 mm plasticard. 

once made I coated the surface of the step and the flying bridge floor with a coat of "none slip" paint...……..i.e., some 240 grade wet and dry paper cut to size and glued on with cyano. 

today was the day of the most complex patrt of this or any model i have ever built..wiring up the mast lights and making sure as few wires are seen as possible......that meant drilling [or reaming] out tracks on the "T" section of the mast to set the wiring into to make as inobtrusive as possible, before it disappears into the cabin.






then making sure that the radar works first, I set it into the "T" mast using some of the CT1 that I bought for gluing the belting on...….I have now left them to set for a good few hours. I used some spring clamps to hold them in place so that the rod to the radar runs vertically and straight and true. 








and finally, I gave the motor cases of the radars a new coat of paint. they were getting a little grubby, but not before I ran a length of plastic tubing through the box to act as support and a bearing for the motor rod.

Thats certainly a lot of wires,as I previously thought when soldering the extensions on them.It gets a little confusing at times!!
Now that you have all the ones associated with the mast area together,it looks like it could be a real nightmare to sort.
I dont blame you for getting a little rest and recreation for a couple of days away from it all.
It will all come good in the end,Im sure.
Hope the weather is not as bad as they say its going to be for you.
Enjoy it if you can
Mick F

been to Liverpool today……….peeee'd it down all day...….to the lakes tomorrow, and then back on the job on Thursday. as you say mate its a nightmare, and now going to get worst as I have to connect them all to plugs from the inside without damaging the mast on the outside...…...think i'm going to get a padded box and put the cabin in it upside down to do it.

the Lakes trip was cancelled today due to inclement weather, and so this afternoon  I set about tidying up all the wiring on the onside of micks  Shannon cabin, and then soldering on the plugs for the switch that mick had supplied.

this afternoon I soldered up and tested and labelled each one to make sure he had the full complement of lights.

I had been worried about how to invert the cabin without damaging the mast which sticks up precariously from the aft flying bridge...……..but then a simple solution...…..I put the dogs old bed and a pillow on the top of a plastic storage box, and inverted the cabin on top of it...…...…...simples, …..job done.

but not before taking delivery of his decals for the boat.

these will go on last as I am never eager to put them on halfway through a build for fear of damaging them.

ohh, and without instructions...…….

if you put the radar scanner together with its end caps on the scanner glued on...…….which would be the natural thing to do...…..even to an experienced or beginner builder as natural fabrication...……..IT DON'T GO ROUND on the base...….it catches on the upper cross tree stays...…...

the scanner has to be trimmed down to length by almost 10 mm in total, for the thing to clear the stays...….WTBH....

taken me three days of brain bashing work, and a job I hate anyway, to insert all of micks lights on his Shannon, as he wanted all of the "sets" of lights individually wired so that he can switch them on individually at separate times...……...….


after the brain fatigue I have experienced in those three days, I have come to the conclusion of...…...SOD IT !!!! …… mine will all operate off one switch and one switch only..............and they will all either be ON or OFF............


I ain't going through that lot again........definitely not my idea of fun modelling.




 












and back on its seat whilst I do the Speedline boat.........I'll do that tomorrow, it'll be a lot quicker now that I know what I'm doing lol. 




at time of going to press ALL lights and radar were working and fully functioning.

just as a little treat to you all, my model has just become full sized and here it is...………

it was returned to the water today after her 6 monthly health check and a clean up of the water jet drives.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK5nwh1Dn4k&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR01TnKgbtObiOT1S9we1h41CEdRUuuZnXm24NAF6xUf_YP-9U7U0N1bqjk

The first set of wires to be hidden was the port side set and although I thought were going to be a bit of a pain were easily hidden, behind a locker just inside the main watertight door to the left hand side.

I fitted a piece of trunking through the locker and threaded the wiring through it to a level below the shelf just below the window level. 

Oh ells bells!!! What a catastrophe after getting this close to the finish line.
So sorry for you Neil,after all this work,in doing something I know you detest doing.As we spoke tonight,just let me know what replacements you want and I will get them sent off to you.
I sincerely hope you find it fairly easy to repair the damage,and that it wont take you too long.
Of course I am most relieved that the damage isnt to my Shannon,but even so I am devastated for you.
Sincerely hope it doesnt take you too long to put right,and that you can quickly get back on track
Mick F

cheers mate...............have repaired the mast itself, taken the two flashing lights out and will put new ones in tomorrow...……...the main mast has been glued up and just a matter now of soldering new wires onto the remaining bulbs and making sure the mast can be fitted on to the stub that was left. 

reconstruction of my mast started today, but first of all I decided to do what I was doing yesterday before I knocked to boat over and broke it in the first place.
that was to connect ad thread the internal wiring through the ducting, including the spot lights at the front of the cabin and the upper bulkhead lights...….I opted for soft lighting in two sets of 6 led's...all were fitted under the false ceiling and routed through the ducting that caused all the trouble yesterday.
then it was to the mast. although it should slot into a 3d printed bracket which had broken beyond use I decided to use some mild steel copper coated wire, looping it around the base of the mast and secured through what remained of the printed bracket. I know it isn't to scale for the purists and rivet counters, but a] it would take god knows how long to obtain another replacement from Speedline, b] I might damage the T mast removing the remains of the broken on, c] the alteration I have made will be infinitely stronger than the original fitting knowing my clumsiness, and finally d] who the hell will see it from 50 metres out in the lake.
I have also started rewiring the led's but need 2 new ones from mick.whites as all took a hit, and I have already fitted the blue flashing. I have decided not to fit a working orange flashing light, but fit a dummy light, as in reality this would only ever flash if there was water in the engine room/bilges...….and then only temporarily unless she was sinking...………...and I doubt whether that scenario will ever take place...…...having said that I am a clumsy sod at the best of times.





https://i.servimg.com/u/f77/15/04/81/87/img_0747.jpg


https://i.servimg.com/u/f77/15/04/81/87/img_0748.jpg


https://i.servimg.com/u/f77/15/04/81/87/img_0749.jpg


https://i.servimg.com/u/f77/15/04/81/87/img_0750.jpg

don't know what went wrong with that lo...…..try later.

its not often that things go badly wrong on a build, but to encounter two within a few days is even more unusual, and something like this knocks the stuffing out of even the most inspired and confident builders,...………. and last night two mistakes, one though my clumsiness and the other through poor design and both on different boats, knocked the wind out of me...and I just had to shove the models to one side and sit down, have a couple or 3 beers, think how to solve the problems in my head, not the boats[ had already done that...………]….and take some time out!

so, today spent most of the day writing obscenities in the grime build up on the drive with my power washer, until two Jehovah's witnesses paid a call, looked at my drive , the sardonic  look on my face and scuttled off down the road, bypassing the rest of the houses in their haste to escape. I knew then, with a smile on my face that all was good in the world and I now knew what to do with the models...…..

I finished power washing the drive, did some much needed weeding of the garden, and then later today got back into the garage to continue the sojourn.

first I used industrial  strength Velcro to hold the servos firmly into their small boxes. [job 1 complete], and then, more importantly to conquer the problem with the snakes and the directional nozzles.

I drilled the clip connecter first with an 0.5mm bit to take some securing wire...……...then placed the snake inside the clip, and again drilled with the same bit. finally I took them apart after marking their joint position with a pencil, threaded the snake  back through the tube, and then glued the snake onto the clip, and  pushed the securing wire through the predrilled holes, and have left them to set hard on their own, rather than use accelerator spray.

tomorrow I'll tidy them up, and twist the securing wire around the clips to make sure they don't fall out in the water. I will also touch up the paint on the clips, and the ugly but essential support blocks that now hold the brackets from breaking free. I would suggest to anyone that is building a Models by design  Shannon that similar supports for those thin brackets ARE ESSENTIAL...…….how neat and formed you want to do them is your own choice, but they do need supporting. 

Keep going Neil. I'm off for a couple of weeks on a full size ship and expect to see 'on the water' photos of these two when I get back 

Barrie

barriew wrote:

Keep going Neil. I'm off for a couple of weeks on a full size ship and expect to see 'on the water' photos of these two when I get back 

Barrie

you'll be lucky mate....micks is going down to Cornwall in just over 2 weeks and I've lost one of the shaft couplings to my boat, and his is going to Cornwall without electronics for mick to supply and fix himself.

anyway...…….today started how yesterday finished...….more stress , more trials and tribulations and then...……..well all I can say is triumph....
started fitting the jet nozzles to the Speedline boat.....I'd only had the boat in the water once ages ago to test water tightness after I had fitted the bodies of the jets.....the 8 fixing Allen screws had gone rusty within days of immersion.........and as I could only find 5 this morning, I went up to my local engineering stores and bought some stainless steel ones. the jets were fitted...…..

came to fit the motors, and one coupling was missing......couldn't find it on the work benches in any boxes anywhere...…...but hey ho! eureka...…...I found my long missing chuck key to my minicraft drills...….been missing for 4 or more years.....and so fitted one motor complete with rubber seal....

so phoned Adrian gosling to ask if I could buy a new one...….only problems he was in foreign climes but promised to make me one when back in ten days....but after I rang off I picked up a rag to wipe it off some muck from the paint work and there, stuck to the rag was the missing coupling...…..emergency averted...….

so once this one was fitted, I also connected the servos in position to the connecting rods for the buckets and nozzles...….tomorrow I'll fit the servo boxes permanently, and once set, connect the servos.…..

once this has been done its just a matter of fixing all fittings to the boats, which have all been painted...…….hopefully now plain sailing to the finish point.

Neil seriously you do NEED to put some LOCK nuts on the rods going into the clevis pins to stop the rod turning.....or when it is set up with your rc you can then solder the rod to the clevis or they will defo move...Been there had the Tee shirt

stavros wrote:

Neil seriously you do NEED to put some LOCK nuts on the rods going into the clevis pins to stop the rod turning.....or when it is set up with your rc you can then solder the rod to the clevis or they will defo move...Been there had the Tee shirt

cheers mate, will do....……...once I have glued the servo holders down and they have set I shall dig into my spare parts bin...…………….

but you have disappointed me sorely, I'm distraught
…………………...not a single mention from anyone about my runaway chuck key.

is everyone asleep. 

Don't worry at all Neil you will have LOST it AGAIN in a couple of days or even hours 

Dave

stavros wrote:

Don't worry at all Neil you will have LOST it AGAIN in a couple of days or even hours 

Dave

./…………….how true you are mate...……..I just love your honesty,

I was hoping to finish mick and my boats by next weekend but sadly with the final few days of my dads life before he passed away just over 2 weeks ago and then the two weeks helping my brother with this and that, leading up to the funeral on Friday my mind has been on other things than model lifeboats...…...

but I did a little today by painting and masking up the 8 hatch lids for the aft end of the two boats, and painted them this afternoon with the textured paint to match the decks. 

tomorrow I'll hand paint the chrome and silver bits and then fit into the recesses on the boats. 

I have also fitted the "glass" into the frames of Micks boat and spray painted with matt black from the insides to black out his cabin. these I will leave out of the recesses to the cabin until the final moment as the open windows give a good hand hole when moving the cabin about. 

the rear hatch covers for both models now finished apart from putting the screw heads on the hinges of micks boat..which I will do in an hour or so when the silver paint has dried.







And then i went on to the  safety guide rail fittings port and starboard for clipping crews safety links on to whilst out at sea.

the white metal fittings were supplied to me by my friend Dave Metcalf in two varieties and sizes of bottle screws, and I fabricated the fixing brackets. the black safety line is cord covered tungsten trace fishing line.

today, it was time to get the two hulls ready for drilling the ruffle hole in the bow keelson section for both boats.

they all have one for running the securing strop through to a carriage, but the Fleetwood boat doesn't have strops nor does she have guide brackets for the strops, unlike micks St Ives boat does...…….so have his brackets to add .


below shows the ruffle hole in the bow keelson of the Fleetwood boat, no brackets either, as I had been told by someone that all boats did have. I won't mention their name to save embarrassment lol.





now, to drill through the keelson top take the surrounds, I would need to block it off somenow, or our boats would sink, as the interior keel is hollow...…….

so I dug out my can of grp polyester resin, and mixed it up with some catalyst before raising the stern of each boat and pouring some resin into the bow end...……...that will be left to set for a couple of hours, as I didn't want to put too much catalyst in for fear of making a hot mix and distorting the hull grp.

the holes were drilled, just oversized, and brass eyelets were inserted either side, to give a finished look to the ruffle hole.

once glue had set I masked the skeg that runs from bow to stern skid and painted satin silver, first coat,,,,,,,

another will be given to it once the paint has dried. 

Neil please please STOP using darned car filler to do jobs like that only one product to do that and thats P40 GRP  filler.......2 reasons.....1 FILLER is porus.........2 P40 is resin mixed with chopped strand matting and is 100% waterproof......having seen one person having used filler to mount his shafts in and seen the results.....YES i know there is resin under the filler but it is cracked....porus filler = GLUG GLUG

tonight whilst I was waiting for the paint on the keels of the two boats to dry, I decided to  do a few small jobs on the cabins and decks that needed finishing off.

1st...…….to make a new searchlight bracket that was slashed when the mast was broken...…..made fron a 6mm strip of brass, drilled, bent and fitted...…….job done but for painting. 

2nd...…...fit the aft service and storage hatches to both boats...….done

3rd...…...repair the main light platform that was broken in the fall, and strengthen it . I used 1mm plasticard in two pieces, wrapping them round the mast, and cutting two holes for the 5mm  LED's leads to run under the platform...…….done.

I'm motoring now, lol. 

stavros wrote:

Neil please please STOP using darned car filler to do jobs like that only one product to do that and thats P40 GRP  filler.......2 reasons.....1 FILLER is porus.........2 P40 is resin mixed with chopped strand matting and is 100% waterproof......having seen one person having used filler to mount his shafts in and seen the results.....YES i know there is resin under the filler but it is cracked....porus filler = GLUG GLUG

thats what I am using mate, P40...…….. always have from years gone by...………….I only call it car body filler because I buy it from a car paint shop in Blackpool. but I buy the unstranded stuff without glass strands...……...easier to say.

but, wrist slapped, i'll refer to it as p40 in future matey. 

save me being told off lol.

the next task was to fabricate the safety line that runs underneath the hand  rail on either side of the cabin...….as said earlier, made from brass links made from wire connected to the bottle screws supplied by my friend dave……..they look reasonably affective.

then the "steel" gate was added to the flying bridge, and am in the middle of cutting two frames for both boats that holds something [ I know not what at the moment] that is fixed to the bulkhead next to the tannoy microphone.

time marches on and more little bits get mated up to micks boats...…….

this morning/afternoon were the windscreen wipers, hatch handles, hinges and other little bits and pieces. all scratch copied from the speedline fittings

I am getting really excited now, its beginning to look more and more like the real thing. I still have many shows and lifeboat days at which to exhibit this beautiful model, I think I am going to need more display space! I have already had another shed built in my garden, to accommodate and carefully store some of them, but have no more room for any sheds or anything else. Despite the setbacks Neil has had, he is still doing a wonderful job on both models, and I can't wait to have this one to sit alongside my new Severn, and watch people's faces as they see how superb they are. 

windscreen washers and pipes have been fitted.

also I got down to making the boat hooks for the two boats...…...couldn't lay my hands on any 3mm dowel, but whilst looking a came across 3 lengths of kite rods that I picked up once from a broken kite on Fleetwood beach, made from GRP...………..thought they might come in someday...…...that was nearly 12 years ago when the kids were young...………...well, tonight aemon……...this is your life...………...they did...……….made my boat hooks out of them, lol. 

I wholeheartedly commend you for your perseverance on all these small fiddly bits Neil "" VERY WELL DONE ""
A SUPERB MODEL OVER ALL AS ARE ALL YOUR BUILDS.

thank you Damien...…..……..i'll enjoy the Queenscliffe more though lol.

IT's all the small bits that take the time I didn't estimate on...…….

first was adding the threaded screws to the three "bollards" for each boat and then fitting the first to micks boat.









then it was the turn of the two life raft canisters, and the retaining straps and tie links...…..the black straps were made from sticky black plastic and the retaining links from brass wire. 








and then i was about to fit them, and i suddenly realised that the floors of the under  storage area for the small raft canister AND the entrance to the cabin, had not been painted with the textured aged iron paint, that i had so much problems with........so they both needed painting.

however they are so inaccessible for masking and getting a spray can into, i decided to mask off the lower edge of the entrance with tape and carefully brush paint them. i sprayed some paint into a margarine tub and let it go "off" for a few minutes. but even then, trying to paint it with a soft brush left it smearing and clinging to the brush rather than the floor, so, just like stippling grp resin into the matting, I stippled the floors with the flat of the brush rather than the end...…….it looks ok at the moment...…..just have to wait until it cures and dries for the finished result. 




and finally, I painted the  boat hooks, Baliol blue for the starboard side, and white for the port side. this colouring goes back to the days of pulling/sailing boats when those out on a shout in hurricane gales when little could be heard, the coxs'n could actually shout Blue or white to get the nearest oarsman to use oars for steerage.





might do soe more tonight once the textured paint has dried......gawd, I don't want to mess that lot up.

just slogging away now fitting the parts that I had already painted or small wiring sections [mock] to detail the boat. the pictures show all.