AMBULANCE LAUNCH FLYING CHRISTINE.

Finally caught up with this build, Neil. Must say I am really liking the work and as an offshoot the information and methods you use, which with your permission I will use for my next build whenever that may be.

Mat

matt, you don't have to ask, to copy what I do.......I find it a great honour and a priviledge that someone wants to do so.



I learned a lot over the years from emulating others, and wouldn't feel good with myself if I didn't pass on what I have learned.



spent 22 years as a teacher, and feel that if one is given a gift.then share it with others.



can't abide those self centred people who cover their work or won't discuss how, why and what they have done to achieve something..........the greatest gift in the world is free.....and that is knowledge passed from one person to another.



so go right ahead matey..it would be a pleasure to know that I have been of help, and I say that sincerely.



neil.

looking good Neil and while I'm on here thanks for the copy email you sent Barry I'm certain he'll make good use of that rather good piece of text and I have to admit I hadn't realised how much you had raised between you! please pass on my congratulations to the team it really was a tremendous success despite the issues with the weather

will do matey.



cheers, neil.

the combings to the rear well deck have now been added......been a lapse in enthusiasm as have had a set back with the moulding of the plug to produce a grp hull, but this will be solved after the Blackpool show

next on the list job for the none sailing boat is the cabin.



Instead of the timber framing I have decided to make this from 2mm HIPS ( plasticard) the wall shapes have been taken from the timber frames already cut for me, with side framing from 2 x 5 mm plasticard strip, courtesy of my old mate Dave Metcalf.

And a start on the front part of the cabin. Side walls this time from 1.5 mm plasticard

Looking very nice mate, might have to make one

work has been progressing slowly on the main cabin and some detailing.....all done in plasticard other than the main mast, from brass.

Looking good Neil

Whats that stuff you are using as a filler on the plasticard?

Alan

cellulose surface filler putty, Alan......



for light scratches..it tends to melt into the plasticard very well, and gives a lovely finish, wet and dried....when it goes hard in the tin ( it doesn't use a hardener...just hardens by evaporation) I just add a layer of celulose thinners to thin it out again.....lasts for yonks.



car plan and holts both do similar putties



neil.

She is looking good Neil and thanks for the tip with the fine filler and thinners never occoured to me dooh

I've been getting the cabin ready for attaching to the hull permanently by detailing the final little bits.

the rear access doors have been made and glued onto a bulkhead attached to the rear of the cabin, and the fromt fluted ribs attached to the fore end of the cabin.

also I have glued strips of plasticard around the opening of the deck with cyano. the plasticard structure of the cabin can then be glued with plastiweld plastic glue to this foundation layer. it can all be sprayed in situ then before masking up for a perfect join and spraying with a textured paint to give a none slip effect for the decking.

Shes looking good Neil wish I had more time to progress my lady sarah II lol

Another stunning model from our master builder,well done mate and keep up the great work.!

thanks matey,



Just received the plugs back from Steve Tranter..he was unable to find someone wanting to make the moulds for less than £1200 quid so am going to mould them myself.

watch for further fun, lol

thats a lot of dosh to make a set of moulds

They were having a larf.........I'm doing it for steve for the price of the materials, now I've sold the Clyde and got the space to do it.

neil.

Coming along beautifully. I love the classic design of this boat..

Nice work, I'm looking forward to seeing the vids of her on the water. Any idea how many hours you've put in so far?

Regards Norsemn

Norseman wrote:

Nice work, I'm looking forward to seeing the vids of her on the water. Any idea how many hours you've put in so far?

Regards Norsemn

you'll be waiting a long time for those, norseman......I haven't got a camcorder that will download onto a computer.......nor the knowhow how to do it, lol......bit of a computer illiterate sorry to say,lol

as for hours.not a great lot at the moment.....it's turning into a simple build, nothing like the lifeboats I build.

neil.

Just love whats happening with her Neil don't you sometimes find the simpler builds are more enjoyable?

yes, mate......but it's a long time since I built one, lol

Firstly, on the show boat the cabin has now been glued, with plastiweld to the plasticard strips that were glued to the deck and has been filled with putty paste....now awaiting a final wet and drying of the filler before painint with Halfords Olde English White...that'll be done when it stops b****** raining up here in the frozen north.

The rear cabin wind protecters have now been added from 1.8mm ply and faired in with putty ready for sanding and finishing before painting. And I think that is now all the building done......just a matter of painting and fixinf the fittings!!! ............hurraaaayyyy!!!



Soon be able to get on with my lifeboats, lol

Now has come the point where I have to get down to the messy job.

I have produced a second hull that has been waxed up with a release agent so that my friend could make a grp mould from it for production of hulls in GRP. I gave it to him, thinking that he would be able to do it himself, as at the time I was too busy with other projects to clear my workshop in order to do the job myself( something that I have done many times)
However I misunderstood and he was actually going to get someone to mould for him. Sadly those that he approached wanted to rip him off and the lowest quote he got for making the two simple moulds was £1200 pounds......totally rediculous, so I have been given them back and I will over the next few days make a production mould from the "plug" and then make a moulding for my daughter so that we can work on it together.
So firstly I had to make a flanmge to go down the centre of the hull and the superstructure. The first half of the mould will be laid up against this flange. It is held by a back bone of a strip of wood, and the flange is screwed onto it.
the flange is then set into possition by a gooey gluey substance called Bluetack( for our US friends who I am posting for as well as RCMB forum mates)

Once I have set the flange down the centre it is held by moulders plastecine.
Don't be bothered too much of the gaps between the flange and the hull.......this is filled with more plastecine for a nice even and flat surface between the plug and the flange.

Once the flange has been fitted, the hull/superstructure and flange are all given more coats of release agent wax. DO NOT use ordinary furniture polish to do this waxing job.....it will contain silicons.....and these will react with the first layer of gelcoat and leave a rippled orange peel effect. The wax that we use for mould releasing is a NON SILICON BASED wax, that actually comes from the USA

As i know nothing about making moulds I am finding this very very interesting Neil, looking forward to your next post.



Alan

It'll be all go from Friday, alan......i'm going to southport for the day with the good lady and our kids so am picking up my resin, gellcoat and matting from glasplies whilst I'm there....will do a bit on Friday night.

Hi

Southport's not too far from me. Do Glasplies only sell trade amounts? I'm going to have to learn fibreglassing soon that's why I ask?

Cheers Dave

no dave.they sell small amounts, but sell to public and trade alike......no discrepancies

http://www.glasplies.co.uk/



neil.

Following this with interest. It all looks a good finish and very smooth.

cheers

Ken

cheers, kenny.......just off out to the workshop to give a final wet and drying before paintinh.

neil.

Now that I have got hold of my supplies of polyester resin and gelcoat, it's down to business making the moulds for the boat and cabin.

First job was to paint all the surface of the first half the mould to be moulded, with PVA release agent..this is not to be confused with PVA glue..this stuff is meant to release parts by forming a film between layers, not to stick them together.It is blue in colour and leaves a thin film on all surfaces to be gelcoated.








Once this has dried, the whole area is coated with the first layer.....the waterproof Gelcoat layer.....

Although this is not actually the boat, a gelcoat layer is always appled to my moulds to give a hard glass like finished outer layer.










the odd looking shaped hump is the rear cabin for a lifeboat I will be building when this project it finished so thought I'd mould it at the same time.







whilst the gelcoat is "going off" I spend my time cutting 450 gram chopped strand matting into smaller manageable pieces for ease of laying up. some strips, others in small squares and some in larger pieces.
However to give greater impregnation of the resin I tend to split the matting into thinner layers, giving a more open weave to the matting.
I still use the same equivelant number of layers, just better bonding power.
Tomorrow it's down to laying up the first half of the mould with matting and resin.

I am enjoying reading this as it something I have not done (fiberglassing), I was wonderi g did you cut out the bulkheads yourself or get them cnc'd I have a boat I want to build and it would be great if I could ge it cnc'd for a reasonable price.

I know this is only the mould but have you ever used woven cloth instead of matting, the only reason I ask is that I have a small hull made with it and it is nice and smooth on the inside and light,



Peter

Hi Peter.....nice to see you posting on here..........to answer your questions



I've never actually used woven rather than matting...don't know why, as it isn't much dearer per meter than matting......I suppose I feel fomfortable using the matt and possibly it needs a different technique in stippling/rolling to use woven.....but one of these days I might try.perhaps on the cabin for the lifeboat where I need a smooth inside to stringer out.



as for the cnc'ing.I had steve tranter of modelboatbits to do them for me...........he uses a water jet cutting technique and they are very accurate.He didn't actually charge me for doing the work and that's why I'm making the moulds for him. However since I put my build log on another american based forum he's had two or three orders for the service, and I think ( but not sure.you'd have to check up with him) but he was only charging around 30 - 40 quid for cutting with timber supplied in the cost, which I don't feel expensive at all.you just have to supply him a copy of the plans and he does the rest.

see here http://www.modelboatbits.com/

neil.

My experience is that with woven cloth is unless it is ultra fine like 6/10ths ounce which I use for finishing it doesn't form on external curves easily, once the resin dissolves the bond in mat you can form it to any shape youplease.

I must admit damien that I get good results from getting matting around sharp corners and curves.

this morning I laid the first layer.......the hull giving the most concern, because the thin belting and spray rail on the lower hull kept forming bubbles around the raised objects...a lot of stippling and rolling was needed with the first layer...second layer went on well after the first had gone off. the other moulds went well.



the first shots though are the tools of the trade, with weigh scales for calculating catylist to resin, the measuring jug and the resin + white pigment.

















the first layers of matt and resin applied to the plug. this will be ready for splitting from the flange later tonight.

Well explained Neil, even I can understand it, (so far) photo,s compliment the text. Perhaps you should write a book on it Neil.



Alan

WHAT!!!! with my spellin' and illiterate grammar, lol...........my misses'd pee herself if she heard ya say that, lol

I cleaned up the mould edges on the first halves of the mould, and have now had a look at it.......there were one or two bubbles formed between the gelcoat and the first layer of mat, at the flange edge.

Before starting the second half of the mould I poured some neat gelcoat into these bubbles, and alowed to set, before waxing up the second half of the mould once the flanges have been removed.

A quick wax up, and a PVA release layer, and back to the gelcoat for the second half, and then laying up with matting.




filling any air bubbles at the edge of the moulding












Flanges removed, edges of first half of mould cleaned up, and waxed up and a release agent added ready for second half of mould
















.

side two of the mould was laid up last night, and I have just finished trimming it off from all the ragged edges, and cleaned up the top cutting line of the mould.

Will now leave until tomorrow night before doing anything else with the moulds.

Nice Neil, didnt relise so much went into making a mould, very educational.



Alan

the moulds are now finished ( from the outside that is)..they have been sanded to remove any "needles" that could give splinters when handling.

The flanges have also been drilled with 6mm holes to take the 6mm roofing bolts/nuts for holding the mould together when moulding.

Once this had been done, I used some wedges made from nylon blocks that Andy (tatooed) sent me a while ago.....they make absolutely superb wedges for splitting the moulds down the flanges..and worked away slowly, splitting the moulds until that satisfying crack told me that the release agent had given way and the mould had seperated from the plug.

A good clean down with soapy water and a final wet and drying will see the mould transformed from a raw mould to a good working tool that will hopefully produce a good number of replica's of the ST200 Sea plane tender launch..but before that a good bit of elbow grease to get the moulds working well and nicely cured.

Once again tremendous work and great commentary on the process Neil, Do please keep it up mate

the moulds have now all been cleaned up and readied for taking a mould....they have been given numerous coats of none silicone release wax and screwed together, ready...will get round to making a moulding set this week, but have got the decorater in at the mo so might be late on in the week.











##

whilst I've been readying the moulds for pulling out some mouldings I have been working on the Charity boat for Guernsey.......spraying and getting ready for taking fittings.

for masking I have used the new Frog tape as sold in B & Q and other outlets..advertised as no creep on the edges......it is brilliant....perfect edge lines on the paint..super stuff.........but expensive at 9 quid a roll...........but hey ho! what price to avoid frustration on a biblical scale, lol























































There is just one problem now that I have got the boat looking as nice as I can..........I've dropped the biggest b****x in christendom.....the lovely shiny rear cabin top was fitted out as per the Sea Plane tender with a wave breaker at the rear end of the top.........received a photo of the real boat a few weeks ago and didn't bother to look at it till tonight.............there is a great big wooden sliding hatch running down the top, just where I've put the b****y wave breaker..............bummer said dougal........will have to take that off tomorrow, wet and dry the top, fill and mask off, make a sliding hatch before I mask the whole thing off again and respray hoping for a finish half as good as I had already achieved.....sods law!!

Looks stunning that mate,as usual.!

Looks realy good Neil, shame about the sliding hatch, thats the sort of thing that happens to me

Perhaps we could talk about you making me a hull and cabin while you have got your hands sticky.



Alan

hi alan, I'd love to, but.........they are now the property of Steve Tranter of Model boat bits.

the hull I will be pulling out is the one that we agreed on when he was actually going to do the mouldings........He has paid for all the materials and as such, it would be wrong of me to go behind his back................eventually over the next few weeks I'll be making some templates for him so that he will be able to make a small semi kit of it, and I don't think they will be too expensive.

Had I not promissed to pass it over as soon as I'd finished the moulds I'd have gladly done one for you.



If you get onto Steve though, I'm sure he would gladly pull a set out for you in a week or two.

In the mean time....I couldn't go to bed tonight without knowing that rectifying of the problem of the hatch was under way, so went back out to the workshop and got on with it, lol

No problem Neil, I can get one from Steve, just thought I would ask.

Couldnt go to bed until the hatch was sorted, hope your not in that workshop in your pyjamas



Alan