Billings St Canute

This is my new project. Its not quite what it appears  The kit had been started - rather more than started actually, and then dismantled. I think that I am going to have to re-make all the hull parts including the keels and formers. Many have already been remade, and not very well. Others are in a bad way and will need a lot of sanding to remove old glue if nothing else. 

More photos when I've sorted it out.

To help me I've just ordered a Dremel scroll saw, and am hoping to buy a disc sander as well - got to spend the results of my boat sales

Barrie

As promised - photos of the hull components. These are much worse than I originally thought

 

More had been done than I thought. I suspect the two halves had been glued together, and planking attempted.
I have three options as far as I can see
1. Remake all the hull components from 2mm birch ply.
2. Try to find a suitable FG or ABS hull
3. Tip it all in the skip and write it off as a bad buy

Watch this space....

Barrie

No progress yet - waiting for materials - but this arrived yesterday.



I guess that means I have at least to attempt to re-make the hull components. 

The blade fixing is a little tricky, particularly if wanting to cut internal shapes.

Barrie

Hi BarrieW,
Looks like you have your work cut out ( sorry about the pun.)
I am sure that with your skills you will soon knock this into shape.
Good luck with the build.
I will be following.

Martin.

Hi Barrie - that's one of the hulls built in halves as you probably already know from the instructions - they actually work quite well - have both the Norden and the Lilla Dan built the same way - the frames are usually quite accurate so probably easier to replace only the really bad ones - in my case the two halves fitted together well - after planking - 1/2 deck holds the frames accurately - however Billings were usually quite stingy with the Obeche planking - not a lot to spare - so that could well be problematic if some has already been used - (in the case of the Norden planking was pine - also used for the deck they were so thin - believe the later kits were Obeche). Its a nice build and an interesting subject - there was one at my old club - sailed well too. Looking forward to the build.

Peter - I've built a few of these Billings half-hull models. They are easier to keep true than a full hull when planking. The problem with this one is that it had been built up before. I thought that they had given up when they tried planking, but no - they had actually got as far as sticking the two halves together - with what looks like Evostick

All the frames are in a bad way, some have already been re-made, and others patched up, so re-making all is the only option for a reasonable result. One of the hull halves is patched and the other incomplete. Everything has glue residues.

My plan is to cut and shape one set of frames. If that goes well, I'll cut the second so I can ensure they are identical. Next will be one hull half, and fixing the frames to that.

There is not enough planking material to do one half  I will see what I have in stock. If I don't have enough then I will look for a new supply to cover the whole hull. 

At the moment, I rate my chances of actually building this as 50/50. At some point I am quite likely to consign it to the recycle bag.

The Boothbay Lobster boats keeps looking more and more attractive

Barrie

Sorry about that - sounds really bad Barrie - quite a lot of work to get the frames & keel re cut - plus planking is no longer cheap if you need to buy any  Have you checked all the other bits & pieces for any shortfall in those ?. With that type of seller there may be more missing - presume you at least got the plans & instructions (l have them somewhere in case you need) its the sort of thing that needs to be reported to EBay - just because the seller may have said some pieces may be mssing etc does not mean they should get way with this sort of thing .

I hope you are able to complete this build though - makes for a great model. Perhaps the Lobster boat can be the next - on my redesign of the Bass Boat the intention is to resort to a normal keel and use Les Rowells Aerokit method to reinforce it as done with the Tour Master - with the deck fitted it makes a pretty sturdy frame to keep the kinks out........

OK - I've made a start at last  Most of the frames for the first side cut out.  These went very well using my new saw and sander - should have bought them years ago.   

I need to check these against the originals then mark up the inner cut-outs. These are not as critical as the outer profiles - which is lucky as I cant use my new sander on the inside curves

Barrie

Side 1 complete. They match the originals pretty well, and I decided it was more important for the two sides to be the same, than strictly accurate to the originals  The inside cuts are not quite as neat as the outside, but they wont be seen



I've also cut the first keel half. Still the openings to cut. This is only 1.5 mm thick - the original was 2mm, so I will need to adjust the formers.

I have checked the planking material. With that in the kit and my stocks I have half the original quantity on the parts list, so hopefully this will do one side, and I will need to find another 30 or so strips. Of course no one makes 1.8 mm x 5 mm planking strips do they 

I will plank side 1 and see how much, if any, useable material is left before ordering more.

Barrie

Today I cut the outside shape on side 2 - still need final sanding and the inner holes cutting. I hope to get that done tomorrow. I also started on the cut outs in the keel, so hopefully I will be be able to start planking later this week.
I think that I may soak my planking material in water for 24 hours or so. Its mostly quite old and dry. I will obviously have to steam or soak in hot water  before applying.

Barrie

Hot water from the tap should suffice Barrie  - soaking for about 10 minutes is usually enough before being pinned in place and left to dry. Unless you are using water based glue would suggest at least 24 hours drying time. Cyano & other types don't like anything damp............Apologies if I'm teaching grandmother. Glad you continued the build - getting on well so far.

Finally finished cutting the frames  Just got to cut some holes in the keel, then I'm ready to start mounting the frames. I will mark out a second keel before I do that.

Barrie

You really set yourself a challenge don't you

Yes - I think this be one too far! 

Barrie

A little progress at last. All the frames for the first side are now cut, sanded and adjusted to allow for the thinner keel. The keel is fixed to a board - I have covered the board with baking parchment as I thought that the frames may stick to the board. I would rather have to unstick the paper rather than the board  
The other hulls I have built using this method had solid keels, so this was not an issue. 
I have started fixing the frames - lack of enough supports stopped me fixing them all, although I found another use for Revell paint pots.   One more session should have them all fixed. 
I have found a large supply of very thin brass pins. I plan to use these to pin the planks to the frames. I will not remove them as I plan to cover the hull with filler and possibly tissue or glass cloth. I think this will allow me to fix more planks per session as I wont have to wait for the glue to dry before continuing to add planks, as I would have to if I used clamps to hold the planks. I will be using aliphatic glue.



Barrie

barriew wrote:

Yes - I think this be one too far! 

Barrie

Everywhere is walking distance if you've got the time

Final frames glued in place. Ready to start shaping then planking. Because of the sharp bends at bow and stern, I'm thinking about using balsa blocks. I'll see when I start to apply the planks. The hull is going to be covered, so it should be OK to use balsa

I have noticed a discrepancy between the keel as supplied, and the illustration in the "manual" - this is one of Billings minimalistic manuals

 

The pieces to close the back of the hull are included on the ply sheets, but quite how they fit I will have to work out. 
I was wondering how I was going to drill out the propshaft hole with the keels as supplied.
I checked the drawings/instructions on the Billings website, and they show a full hull version  

Barrie

This is hard work - really struggling to get motivated on this build


Today I managed to get three planks on. These are stuck with CA as I didn't have much time, but I would prefer to use Aliphatic. I have pinned some of them, and used my modified spring clamps.
As you will see, I have left the extreme bow and stern for filling with balsa.

Barrie

Two more planks fitted this morning. This has shown up a serious problem with formers 0,1 and 2.



I have also noticed that the bulwark supports are all at different heights.  I think these two factors indicate that this project is going no further  

I will leave it a few days, but I don't really feel like solving these problems - and I don't know at this stage what state the superstructure will be in. There have been some attempts to fabricate some of the hatches etc, and lots of other bits not very accurately cut out .

I will be more careful next time I buy a kit which has been started

Barrie

Hi Barriew

That is a shame, and after all the work that you have put into this build, as you say may be a rest from it is best.

Fred

I have finally scrapped this model. I decided that there was no chance I was ever going to build it. After much thought and searching I found a few models I thought that I could tackle, and have just received the one I selected - New Maquettes Asterix II.

Barrie

Viking funeral or wheely bin drop?

Unless I wait until better weather and use the BBQ, it will be going in the recycling bin at the local dump

Barrie