Caldercraft Vigilant II

As it turns out I didn't have long to wait to find my next project   I spotted this old Caldercraft kit advertised on ebay. I made an offer that was accepted and the kit arrived today.



It all looks to be in good order. The ply is slightly warped, and feels a little damp, but otherwise everything looks good. I look forward to starting this next week - if I can wait so long

Barrie

I  have always liked the Vigilant and its two variants based on the same kit, but can't remember their names...…..

but they were Frank Hinchcliffe's first endeavour into the "new" age of model kit manufacturers, and moved such kits as Aerokits into the dark ages with his use of white metal castings...…………...followed soon by the puffer full kit and soon followed by the Joffre tug...….

you have pulled off a stonker with this kit, Barrie, as it really is a classic, and although I have built almost every kit up until the Marrie Felling prototype from the Hinchliffe stable, I have never built his earliest and most important creation......the Vigilant set of 3...……..enjoy it mate, I look forward to your build.

On further inspection I see this will not take long to build. The most difficult part will be getting the parts from the diecut sheets.  The die cutting is not very good and the ply is very tough. To spin out the build time I plan to plank the deck with 0.5 mm Lime so that I can stain it. All the ply has very prominent non-scale grain showing.  I am thinking of replacing the cabin sides with new ones cut from either liteply or ordinary ply with no discernible grain so that I can stain them also.
The instructions call for a 500 series motor. I have a couple and will check their current draw, but I also have a JP 400 which I think will be suitable for this model which is fairly light.

I have designed the stand - just need to saw the wood - and tacked the propshaft in place to check the clearance for the stand. I've started trimming the hull and removed the deck from the ply sheet. It seems over long, but that needs to be confirmed before I start cutting it

Barrie

nhp651 wrote:

you have pulled off a stonker with this kit, Barrie, as it really is a classic, and although I have built almost every kit up until the Marrie Felling prototype from the Hinchliffe stable, I have never built his earliest and most important creation......the Vigilant set of 3...……..enjoy it mate, I look forward to your build.

Neil, Not much progress yet! I have been fighting a nasty cough/cold for over a week that has completely laid me low.

However,  I have been doing doing some research into Vigilant. I was hoping for some photos, but so for the only information I can find is on the Essex Police Museum website. Vigilant I was a converted RAF Seaplane Tender acquired in 1949. In 1978 Vigilant II was commissioned having been specially built for Essex Police. However, I'm not sure of the accuracy of the model as Vigilant II is described as having 'round bilges' and being teak planked on oak frames.

My supplies of strip wood have arrived from CMB. so any day now I should be able to make a start  I did cut out and glue the stand today.

Barrie

that, is the "joy" of building a Caldercraft model, of the Hinchliffe era...…….

frank never gave a tuppence for purity or actual scale, as his philosophy was always "bullshit baffles brains"......

and you having told me [which I didn't know before you told me just now] that this boat and its two similar boats are based on the ST200 sea plane tender, I can now see the similarities...……...its pointed at the front end, its flat at the back end and it floats, lol...…….but I stil like it.
below is the Caldercraft "sea plane tender" and the sea plane tender from official plans.

I tried to do some modelling today but didn't get too far as it was very cold in the workshop even with the fan heater going! I did manage to finish the stand ready for painting. I also had to modify the prop shaft. It was designed to have a 'bolt-on' prop as the white metal one supplied. This meant the threaded section was too long for a screw on version, so I shortened it. I also looked at the rudder and as far as I can see the shaft and tube are not long enough to get above the water line, so I will have to make a new one - in fact I am sure I have one somewhere, but couldn't lay my hands on it.

The forecast is for slightly warmer weather later in the week so I may be able to get some work done then.

Barrie

I moved indoors weeks ago, Barrie...…..the beauty of being without wife lol.....divorce is a wondrous thing for model boat builders, lol.

....divorce is a wondrous thing for model boat builders...

Not when you are obliged to give the house away and pay all the legal costs from an overdrawn overdraft, Neil - but that was a very long time ago. Glad you're keeping the faith alive, dude!

Barrie

What are the dimensions of this model? I've had such notable success with brushless motors in the last few years that I now don't use brushed ones at all - even though I could make speed controllers for them from stock components.

Dave M

aye, its grand to hear from you Dave......how are you and how's that new modeling studio you built being used......

its all to infrequent that we chat old friend...………..i'll have to find a few problems with my electrical works to get your grey matter going.

are you keeping well. hope so.

best wishes, 

neil.

Yep - still old, fat and ugly and still away with the Faireys, m'duck. We do what we can with what we've been given, I find.

DM

still old, fat and ugly 

I thought I had the monopoly on that, lol...……….join the club.

Dave

Its so long since I looked at it I can't quite remember its length - about 30 inches I think. If you are suggesting a brushless would be better than my proposed motor, I would agree if I wanted it to go fast , but I've given up speed as my reactions aren't quick enough. We discourage fast boats on our water to avoid upsetting the anglers who 'own' the lake. I sold all my brushless equipment a few years ago now.

I hope to start modelling again soon, but at the moment health and other issues have left me lacking motivation. A few more bright sunny days like today in sunny Essex will get me going again.

Barrie

Barrie

I've just finished a SLEC Police Launch, which is about the same size as the model you have. I fitted a 2836/11 750kv brushless motor with a 2S LiPo pack and a S35mm 2-blade plastic prop. I made it for my 7 year-old grandson, so speed was definitely not on the list of requirements. It goes beautifully; fast enough to be interesting to a 7 year-old but definitely not of the planing variety. After about 20 minutes on the water, a lot of which was at full throttle, the battery had barely changed voltage and was stone-cold, as were the motor and the ESC.

Contrary to their reputation, brushless motors are not just for idiot-fast models, and contemporary ESCs are much more flexible than their 'all-or-nowt' predecessors.

I hope whatever ails you will clear up sharpish and leave you alone to get on with the important things in life. i.e. wood, glue, paint and water.



Neil
Yep - but still a wee bit younger than you are!   

DM

Thanks Dave - I do know that brushless are versatile. I just don't want to get back into them, particularly as I already had the motor and ESC for this model before I bought it. 
I really like that Police Launch - a possibility for the future.

Barrie

Made a gentle start today. I stained and varnished the stand and cut a new rudder blade from brass. I've found a suitable brass rod and rudder tube and hopefully tomorrow I will solder the blade to the rod. That will allow me to tack the tube in place ready for permanent fixing with P40 and at the same time do the same to the prop shaft.
Having re-started, I hope to carry on with this build.

Barrie

barriew wrote:

Made a gentle start today. I stained and varnished the stand and cut a new rudder blade from brass. I've found a suitable brass rod and rudder tube and hopefully tomorrow I will solder the blade to the rod. That will allow me to tack the tube in place ready for permanent fixing with P40 and at the same time do the same to the prop shaft.
Having re-started, I hope to carry on with this build.

Barrie

good to hear you are back in motion...…..know what it feels like loosing your mojo.

Rudder soldered up - I tried to silver solder it but I don't have enough heat, so its soft soldered . Fixed in position and prop tube and rudder tube sealed with P40. I made a support for the rudder tube from scrap plastic card. The prop tube may need support also. I have the cut out from the stand and may use that to support the tube and add some rigidity to the hull - its quite flimsy. Next job is to glue down the deck. The instructions say to use CA, but I think I'm going to try Gorilla Glue if its not gone hard in the jar . 

Barrie

 

The deck is now stuck down - I hope . Just waiting for the glue to set hard. It was a little tricky as the clamps didn't really hold, so I had to pile on the weights. I also started to make the motor mount - I have cut a plate to fit in the bottom of the hull.
Next job will be to trim the hull sides a little more then start planking. I wont take the sides all the way down to deck level until I have finished the planking.

Barrie

So - the deck was not stuck down. . The glue had not stuck to the hull. Not sure why - I've used Gorilla glue to stick wood to plastic before. For my second attempt I used CA after running some coarse sandpaper round the channel, then wiping down with cellulose thinners. The deck now seems to be firmly stuck. I have finished the motor mount and tacked that in place with superglue. I will add P40 at some point to strengthen the joint. Finally today I took a little more surplus plastic off the hull sides. They will be finally trimmed after planking which is the next job.

Barrie

 

The super glue appears to have held so on with the planking. I've completed about half so far - just hope this sticks  I've used ordinary PVA rather than aliphatic as I didn't want any yellow stains.
In doing this I have discovered that the deck is not very well supported and I think that I will have to fashion some supports somehow especially the long narrow parts.

Barrie

 

Planking finished  After taking the photo, I took the plastic hull sides down to deck level. I used my small plane and it worked very well. The final level will be achieved during sanding the deck.



This photo shows the problem with decks 'drooping'. Next job, apart from sanding the decks, is to try to correct this. I am thinking of trying a couple of plywood beams as the hull is not very strong and I dont think supports based on that would work. I think I can fit in a couple of beams without seriously compromising access/



Barrie

Are you able to make up a couple of bulkheads as deck supports for this? That for me personally would be the way to go as a fix for this issue.

Good luck look forward to your fix!

That's the problem RR - there are no bulkheads . I did think of trying to make some, but the angles are tricky, and the hull sides are not very strong, so I will try the beams first. I don't think that this was one of Caldercraft's finest kits, and of course the ply is pretty old.

Barrie

As a suggestion would it be worth making up some card template as bulkhead formers to get the right internal shape, then cut to ply or plastic card?

You have plenty of room to slot and turn in a bulkhead with the hatch size, I do think beams will work but they would leave the support to only the glue joint and could be in the way depending how far/many are required to level the deck..

My thinking as a fix would have been template bulkheads from the bow hatch open point flat across , a mid way bulkhead and a stern to the hatch opening, then around the hatch cut notches in the bulkhead at the hatch opening for some square stock, this would give you a lot of support for the deck and no risk of warping later,...

This for me would be the best way to go if beams don’t seam to do the job....


Another option without bulkheads would be to add a strip around the hatch under the deck with vertical supports to the base of the hull epoxy will hold just fine to the hull, or some p38, you can then have a combing for the superstructure if that is possible.

RR

I do have an almost complete bulkhead for the forward area - the cut-out from the stand. Unfortunately its not quite up to to deck level. Its a fall back option, although the worst of the sag is further astern. 'Ony road up' as we say in Yorkshire, I have fitted three beams and will see how they work. I am hoping that with the addition of the coamings, this will be sufficient. 

The deck has been sanded and now its onto the superstructure. Having with difficulty removed one cabin side, which is warped, I definitely intend to remake most of the superstructure in liteply - except I don't have any  Things are slightly complicated as I'm due to have an eye op in just over a week which will probably restrict my driving for a while.

This is the current state of the model. We'll see how it looks when the glue (aliphatic) is dry.

Barrie

An improvement I think. Apart from reducing the 'dip', it has made the deck more rigid.

 

The coamings are fitted - just waiting for the glue to set. I have started on a cabin side to make a template for the new liteply version. In theory these are diecut, but in practice they are only marked - the cut doesn't penetrate the top layer of the ply.   I have had to resort to a fretsaw to remove the windows. Absolutely perfect finish is not required as they are only templates   Still a few more to go!



Barrie

Looks like a good fix, good job

The deck has now had a coat of Teak varnish. I think it looks OK. I will rub down with steel wool after its dried as I don't want a shine
I have completed cutting the windows in the cabin sides ready to make new ones from Liteply. It looks as though it will be Friday before I can get to Maldon for supplies. However, I do have a small piece and have been cutting some of the other cabin parts from that.
I did try the side on the hull and found that the forward the forward windows were below the coamings  There are two solutions, black windows or reduce the coamings.

Barrie

All the parts apart from the cabin sides are now ready for assembly when I get more material. I have been working on the servo and battery etc installation. The servo mount is made and installed. I am using a min servo with a push-pull linkage.The boat wont be doing high speeds so I hope this will be strong enough.
The battery, a 7.4 v LiPo,  is forward of the motor under a shelf which will hold the ESC and switch. The fuse will be in the link from battery to switch. Not sure about the Rx - I have a mini one I may use in which case it will be mounted on one of the beams.
Photos soon!

Barrie

I have now done all that I can until I receive more supplies. Hopefully my ESC will arrive tomorrow, and I will get the wood and some clevis on Friday. 

Barrie

(The lump of lead is just to stabilise the model on  its stand - will need moving.)

All supplies now in - I hope  Unfortunately I somehow came away from The Balsa Cabin with 2mm birch ply instead of Liteply  Not sure how that happened. In some ways it is probably better, but it is much more difficult to cut.
The sides are now cut, but all the window openings are still to be made. 



Fitting one of the sides showed me that my servo was in the wrong place  It would foul the floor of the aft well. I have moved it, but it will be more difficult to set up here, as there is less access.



Barrie

I have concentrated on finishing the hardware installation today. As expected fitting the servo linkages was challenging  However they are in and work  



The ESC is installed on its tray and all the wiring completed. I had problems binding my receiver to my transmitter - not sure why. I tried for ages without success. Went to check the Internet to see what I should be doing, which is exactly what I thought I was doing, then had another try and it worked first time



Just the tray to fix and some wiring to tidy.

I started cuttting windows in the first side, but didn't get far. Not sure when I will able to continue as I have an eye operation tomorrow.

Barrie

After the retinal tears in both eyes have been repaired, I'm back with Vigilant



Both cabin sides have now had the windows cut out, and the first side has been sanded. Another session of sanding and I should be ready to start building the cabin. 
The other job I did today was to fix the ESC shelf to the hull with some silicone sealant. I didn't want it to be too permanently fixed and I think this will hold it firmly enough, but will be easy to cut out if needed.

Barrie

I finished sanding side two and started trying to fit the pieces together.  It was necessary to score the sides to allow them to conform to the correct shape. The instructions indicated two places to bend the sides, but I couldn't see that a second one was needed. Maybe when I come to fit everything together I will see where the second bend is required

Barrie

Looking rather good that excellent work as usual


Dave

I started the assembly today. It is a BIG cabin - and only really secured to the hull by the aft well. I started by affixing the two principle cross pieces to one side of the hull, then tried to join the other side.



However, I was a little concerned that the angles were not correct so decided to fit the assembly to the hull. 



I will have to wait until the glue is hard before I will know if this is OK, or will need to be taken apart and re-made  Its quite tricky as the hull sides are outside the coamings until the rear door, when the come inside the hull. I think the whole will only really be sound once the roof is on.

Barrie

 

Not a lot to show for this morning's session. Waiting for glue to dry really, although I have also made some more of the pieces ready to install once it does. I added an extra support in the middle of the rear cabin as when I tied the roof it sagged.  I'm still trying to decide how the wheelhouse front windows are supposed to be. The photo of the prototype shows them flat, but the drawing shows them with an angle. 

Barrie

One step forward and two back this morning  There is something wrong with the geometry of the forward cabin. I couldn't get the roof to fit. Trying to sort it out the cabin side snapped where it had been scored to allow it to taper.  It has now been re-glued and I am starting again. I have cut a new roof which 'accepts' the incorrect geometry as I can't see how to correct it. It must originate in the die-cut opening in the deck.
In other areas I have added some slats to the rear seat - not included in the kit - and fixed the main roof.

Barrie

  

I finally got the forward cabin sorted. It is still not the correct shape, but with the roof in place it looks OK. The problem must lie in the die-cutting of the hole in the deck, as the two sides were identical. I also added a piece of thin ply to the front to cover the mess I made trying to get the original piece to stick
The main cabin roof is now firmly fitted and I glued the last piece in place in the well.

 

Just the wheelhouse windows and roof to fix. I think I have sorted out the window shape, so hopefully they will be glued in place tomorrow.

Barrie

A good fix, can’t even see the difference in the photos, with a lock of paint no one will know anyway, keep up the good work!

You have to see it ' in the flesh' to see the front is not at the correct angle, but otherwise it looks fine.

I forgot to say that yesterday while waiting for glue to dry I removed the rudder and prop-shaft to add some grease to the tubes. I also changed the prop for a smaller one to start sea trials.

Today I finally completed the wheelhouse. I had to bodge a bit as the doors and roof didn't meet as they were supposed to do. A design problem I think. I decided to glaze the windscreen before fitting as access would have been difficult after.
The handrails have been added and when the glue has finally dried completely its ready for painting. A little filler between the forward roof and the windscreen first I think.

Barrie

  

Looks darned good nowt wrong with that


Dave

Thanks Dave!

Looks excellent, looking forward to your finish line!

The cabin sides have now had three coats of Teak Varnish - may get another  The roofs have had one coat of matt white and will certainly get at least one coat of satin white



The hull has been masked and the underside sprayed with red primer. The top part will be painted with Humbrol enamel dark blue, and I have some white 4mm striping on order. I have started painting the fittings, so the end is in sight

Barrie

The topside of the hull has had two coats of Dark Blue Gloss. I will have to see if it has covered well enough when its dry. The cabin roofs have had two coats of Satin White and are ready for the fittings which have all been painted. The windows have been glazed, so if the hull is OK, it just the fittings to install, and the boot topping to fit when it comes.

Barrie