A lifeboat build blog...........How a kit is made!

after seeing pics of your boats peter, I don't blame you for keeping them shelf based......they are sooooh beautiful that I wouldn't want to see them with brass turning green and timbers becoming stained......they are just so fantastic.

hopefully launch day will be the sunday at Etherow National Lifeboat regatta in June.

Am off to Lancaster now to buy some very fine paint brushes for touching up..see ya all later.

neil.

the painting is almost finished on the hulls now.........and there is a certain pride in putting that bow Flag on to the first boat.
All I have to do now paintwise is to paint the toe boards on the "Smuts" as unlike the H F Bailey and the Mary Stanford, they were a tan colour rather than the light grey of the other two.......this will be done tomorrow if I can find the damned tin.....if not will have to wait till monday for the shops to open.

then those beautiful RNLI flags go on!...proud to be worn on such a vessel.

And now they begin to look like lifeboats......and with colour come to life.

spent today naming the models and station names........using BECC lettering, and using masking tape to get them reasonably level.

wooooppsss, the "Smuts" got named too...nearly forgot.

Excellent work Nick - they are really starting to come together now - surprising what some
paint, and the lettering, well applied can do to a model

Geoff

cheers Geoff...but a confession to make.

I have just had pointed out to me by a gentleman that I have been in contact with about the "Smuts"..both he and his father served on the boat, his father as coxswain...that I have spelt the name wrongly.............just shows ( as I took the name directly as printed from a book which lifeboat modellers over here treat as a bible)...that you can't take everything that is printed, as gospel.......and it's a case of research, research, research all the time if you want to get things right.......I'll correct that this afternoon. There's nothing more embarrasing that to do that to a model that you have spent so much time building.

Huston.......I think we have a problem, lol

And the white metal cast brackets have now been fitted to the two Watsons.

neil I think the painkillers I am taking for my new hip joint decided that you would be Nick
in my previous post - either that or senility is getting a firmer grip of whats left of the brain.

geoff

I've been called much worse, geoff.......keep taking the tablets, lol.

been busy today, and the brain hurts

Started off by painting the rope brackets and masking off and painting the scupper plates..........some might say that the plates were painted the same colour as the hulls to blend in, but others I have seen have been painted ( or galvanised) steel, and therefore look silver............I painted them with polished aluminium to set them off as a feature against the blue of the hulls. This only applies to the two Watsons,as even on the oldest of photos that I can see of the Mary Stanford, there was no evidence of such scupper flaps, meaning that the water intake into the two cockpits was sluiced away by none return relief valves through the bottom of the hull.





second job was when I was looking through some photos of the "Smuts".......I found that the steering wheel wasn't the normal standard wheel.

Apparently because the helmsman stands above the wheel midships, the normal standard 30" wheel was too small for comfort and so an extra ring and horns was added to it to give a greater diameter so that the helmsman could stand to the wheel without bending over.
so the task was how to extend a normal white metal wheel into a form resembling the wheel on the "Smuts".

I first flattened off the existing horns on the white metal wheel to give a contact surface for a brass ring.
I made the brass ring by bending an anealed strip of 1/16th brass around an Austin 7 piston ring clamp, ( supplied by my mad mate Trawlerman.........I mean, who would give up Austin 7's for model boat building, ), before silver soldering the ring together.
I then drilled with pilot holes through the ring into the horns of the wheel, slipping brass wire into the ring and horn to lock it together. After it was joined to all 8 spokes, I slipped some plastic tube over the wire to extend the horns, and left it all to set.

And finally for today, after all this I couldn't resist starting to string the grab ropes from the brackets, and so started off with the H F Bailey.

Sadly over the years, I have found many a good model lifeboat made to look more like a toy boat, because the ropework has twisted and taken a form all of it's own. I couldn't put a finger onto this until one day, when I was making my first Anne Letitia Russell, the mechanic from the boat said to me.....(in his scottish accent) Naw laddie........juv strung tha wee ropes reet , havent yee".

I said to him what did he mean by right.
he explained to me that rope is made with a twist, and that rope will only lie straight if it's laid WITH the twist.......no use laying it against the twist, or it will loop and coil to it's own shape all day long and you woun't be able to do a thing with it.
he said that most ropes, yarns and threads are made in a clockwise direction ( with very very few being laid and made anti clockwise) and so it only makes sense to lay those ropes on a lifeboat ( being real or model) in a clockwise direction...........and this means starting from the stern, PORT SIDE, working round to the portside bow, and then from starboard side BOW through to stern, starboard side..............in this way, the rope won't twist, like can be seen on some models.
so, since that day, I have alwayse strung my boats small or large, in that manner.

On the H F Bailey, I have used stranded Kite string for the grab ropes, tied with a thinner thread. to get them sitting properly I then once tied, spotted the ties with cyano, and run cyano along the thread, and held with a spray can, whilst spraying with zapper....the rope then sets and lies in a fixed possition on the boat's fenders.

My you have been busy whilst I was away.....Superb is all I can say..

did you have a good holiday, matey...hope the weather was kind. picking up here as well.

Weather was awful, but great to see the kids and we did visit the D day beaches which turned out to be the most moving and emotional place I have ever been. Even spilled the odd tear and I wasn't on my own...

Looking really nice Neil. A very clever soloution for the bigger wheel. Is there going to be an Austin 7 piston included in the kit

Nice tip on the ropes as well. I hope that finds it's way into the instruction manual!

Footski wrote:

Weather was awful, but great to see the kids and we did visit the D day beaches which turned out to be the most moving and emotional place I have ever been. Even spilled the odd tear and I wasn't on my own...

Somewhere I've always wanted to visit as well barry..that and Dunkirk.

Also Arhnem......My day was there with the RAF sometime after the infamous "bridge to Far" escapade.

James_H wrote:

Is there going to be an Austin 7 piston included in the kit

Nice tip on the ropes as well. I hope that finds it's way into the instruction manual!

No piston, James, but definately instructions about the rope.

neil.



today I finished roping up the safety grab ropes on the other two models."Smuts" and Mary Stanford, but this time I used some scale cord that I found in my rope bin....it hangs better and am thinking of re roping the H F Bailey in the next few days.
However they are now looking more like it.

Then it was a case of tarting the bits and pieces up that have already been fitted........this was in the firsat instance the fairleads and the bow Gobeye and rollers on all three boats.
For this I mixed two half pots of humbrol paint together to give me a less harsh bronze colour that that which comes from the normal metallic bronze Humbrol tim..............I mixed bronze and brass colours together in a 50/50 mix....this will do quite a few fittings.

Neil I can't comment on the Dunkirk beaches but Arnhem is well worth a visit - the museum is in what used
to be the hotel that became the british HQ during the operation and the cemetery was, on a spring sunny
morning that I was there. immaculate and such a peaceful spot - I like the idea that the local school children
still visit on the anniversary of the operation and lay flowers on the graves. Probably wouldn't be P.C.
to do that is this country
A place not easily forgotten

Geoff

blimey, Geoff......you were up late, or was it early, lol

Anyway dreaming of lovely holidays apart, I made an early start this morning sorting my bench so that I could collect all my fittings fogether.

And now the great slog begins.............all building and casting done..........I just have to get all these fittings painted, detailed and fixed to the models before June 20th and Etherow, the National Lifeboat Rally........can it be done.
All of the plastic bags also contain small and minute fittings that have to be painted and fitted, both inside and outside the boat cockpits to varying degrees.
neil.

today I fitted the deck lights and surrounds plus painted a few fittings, and fitted the engine reversing wheels to their plinths......the pile gets a little smaller of "to do" things.
The deck lights, although not the right colour ( as I couldn't accertain the right colour do give a little depth to the things, and so, at the moment will do the job until a certainty of colour comes along.....they are easily changeable as they are held together and in their recesses by double sided tape.............so are removeable....but I needed to start somewhere and getting some fittings on deck is better than procrastinating and doing sod all .

Oh what a difference a bit of sun makes.....painting and drying al fresco....can't beat it, lol

the brightness will once dried, be dumbed down by a paint brush laced with carbon powder, and vigerously rubbed over the paintwork.

All the fittings have now been painted that are going inside the cockpits.....and weathered, and a few more besides.
The "black spot" has been painted onto the bulkheads...this is to give a little "depth" behind the porthole set into each watertight bulkhead door...and all will be fitted to the bulkheads and insides of the cockpits tomorrow with any luck.
neil.

I have had some discussions in the past week or so with my "guardianangel" Glyn, who was a crewman on the "Smuts" and the ships wheel that was causing some concern has had to be modified.


I wrongly assumed that one of the "horns" shown sticking out the top of the wheel on a photo was indeed a "horn" off the outer extension ring.........it wasn't, and I hadn't looked closely enough, as it was in fact one of the compensating irons for the compass lieing just beyond the wheel.


So the horns were snipped off. Also it came about that the outer ring was too wide, and this was ground off a little, and an outer rased piece in plasticard was added to the outer edge of the ring, to give it a circular look.

Finally Glyn told me that this outer ring was coated with a none slip grip, similar to baize....this I replicated to some degree by winding grey cord around the rim to give a similar effect.

H F Bailey's engine room bulhead now been fitted with miriads of white metal and resin fittings....a few more to go on and around the cockpit......but I quite like it.
neil.

I quite like it too.

Fantastic job, and what a lot of detail!

This is going to be one (okay 3) impressive kit.

cheers james.............now that the bits are going onto the boats i can see the end of the tunnel, so to speak.

neil.

Which museums are these masterpieces going to Neil?

Hi damien....... Thanks for the comments.

they are being built purely for my own pleasure.......( and for Dave Metcalf, of Metcal Mouldings http://business.virgin.net/metcalf.mouldings/catalogue.htm to have the measurements and plans, instructions from).I am really looking forward to sailing them this summer...........it's going to take an awfull lot of money ( or a classic car ) to prize any one of them out of my sweaty palms, I have to say.

They'll inevitably get bumped and scratched throughout the season, but I built them strong enough to take that.

neil.

The engine room w/t bulkhead for the RNLB Mary Stanford is now almost complete.........just have to put the engine room fire extinguisher onto the top of the bulkhead centre between the engine water cooling header tanks (painted copper)...but that is drying at the mo.....and got fed up watching it dry.

The gratings have been fixed to the removable floor and set in place.

However, spot the "deliberate" ( I think not..what a cockup, lol) mistake
The Mary Stanford has her steering wheel fixed to a steering rod feeding back to the rudder box on the stern, and not on the ship's binacle column.............think the grey cells are getting tired.

the wheel has been removed for fitting at a later date to the steering rod.

just a few more pics of bits added. the first is of the two removable plates to gain access to the propellors down the tubes into the tunnels.even though they can hardly be seen under the gratings I know they are there. the other is of the base to the rudder steering box on the Mary Stanford.
finally two shots of the gratings in place on the H F Bailey.

My my, superb detailing...

cheers Barry..............but boy oh boy, are we ( me and my crew man adviser Glyn,) having trouble finding info on the contents of the two cockpits of the "Smuts" as they were totally different to the cockpits on any other lifeboat in service. Hopefully I'll have some sectional drawings coming from Cromer Museum next week showing some detailing.

neil.

You can make use of anything in modelling...even Kellogs Cornflake boxes.
after much discussion with Glyn, the ex crew member of Smuts, it was decided that the engine controls for the smuts were fixed to false walls made up onto the wooden battoning on the inside of the for'd cockpit......so this false wall was added this afternoon.from kelloggs box card, sanded on the shiny side to give a key to the glue, and sealed with sanding sealer on the outside.

These will be painted black and then the instruments added.









the false walls have now been made and can then be glued onto the areas where the card facing had been added this afternoon.....The false walls were themselves made from 2mm plasticard, and will, when glued to the cockpit, slide over the combing that the cockpit itself fits to.
they now just need sanding and then gluing before being painted satin black.

Note that on the last picture the wheel is off set to the port side......this was yet another foible of the "Smuts", and yet another is that the w/t door on the bulkhead will be off set to the starboard side.....all for management of the crew in the shortness of space in the fore cockpit.........this One boat has taught me an awful lot about just one variation of a class of boats within the fleet, and to be honest, is testing my powers of research, with the help of Glyn the ex crewman, more than any other boat I have ever buit.
It is turning from just another boat, to use up an old hull and spares.........an "ugly duckling" for want of another word........to a beautiful swan........I am liking this boat more than the other two together., but all have a very big spot in my heart..sentimental.....well I suppose, but they have taken a lot of my life up over the past few years....they deserve that place, lol

THE HUMEROUS SIDE OF MODELLING

Yesterday I was preparing the anchor brackets for the 3 lifeboats, and had drilled the upstanding bracket and base for two of them when complacency took over and I began to drill the third...........

there's nothing worse than white metal for dulling a twist bit and I had left the bit unsharpened for the third and final set of holes...........BIG MISTAKE!!!

I got half way through the first hole, and the drill was labouring a little......when heat transfer took over and my finger and thumb began to smoke.........b***** h*** I thought, and nature took over.....brain was in self survival or so I thought, and I let go of the fitting before switching the drill off which was humming away at a fair rate of knotts.................

The bit snapped and in a blurr of speed the fitting flew off at nuclear speed punching a hole in the telly at the dials and knobs and all I can get now is b**** channel 24.
I rang Mr Metcalf this morning for a replacement fitting (as all that I could find from the disaster was the top pulley from the upstand) and all he could do is laugh himself silly at my antics

Picture below of what they should look like and what was left after my attempt to launch it into space!

so onto safer materials,
after making the false walls for the engine control instruments, I painted them satin black and added the instruments as per plans.
Just have to wait now for the sectional plans for the cockpits from Cromer museum to detail the bulkheads with any detailing that they need.

A little bit more fitted to the "Smuts" fore cockpit, as this little microcosm of detailing nears a point where it will be finished soon

Neil, Beautiful. Can I make a little suggestion? Okay I will then!

The cord around the wheel is furry. I use super glue on cord to flatten it. It also hardens it to avoid damage...Just a thought amigo.

yes, cheers Barry........I.didn't realise just how furry it was till I looked at the photo.........will use varnish tough as I'm allergic to cyano..........only used ot once yesterday and my nose is streaming this morning.........

As I am now waiting for sectional plans to come hopefully next week I have started on the fittings for the outside areas, including the cockpits, and when ever I have a paint pot out with a certain colour I tend to paint those fittings that use that colour......today was the turn of the boat hooks, anchor davit for the M S and making the hand rails for both outside and inside of the cockpits......all using generic fittings from other lifeboats in the range.

I love doing fiddly bits that I haven't done before....stretches the brain.....this afternoon was the turn of the raised "stool" for the helmsman to see over the cockpit top on the H F Bailey and the backrest for the helmsman on the "Smuts"...........

Purists might say that there wasn't the cross piece on the backrest, but this was added purely to give the structure some added strength, and maintaining "modellers licence", it doesn't look to far out of place anyway

things are going from bad to worse guys and I haven't a clue why.............I can no longer see the pics on my own thread, never mind any pics on other threads.........any ideas you wizz kids.............but explantaions in words of single words please, as I am not computer literate.

just done a system restore back toend of april.........and it seams to have sorted the problem.

neil

Neil,

That is what I would have suggested, but I was in my bed when you posted!!!!

Hi Barry......my daughter down loaded a "Yorkie bar" competition yesterday and you had to "enable cookies" what ever that meant............and everything went pear shaped after thsat........so got rid of it by a system restore last night...........and things back to normal now.

cheers, neil.

What a beautiful lifeboat Neil well done bravo.

thanks tony......done a little more on them in the last day or so.

Made the back rests and the raised steering platform for the H F Bailey and the Mary Stanford, and put on to all cabin tops the Handrails, plus handrails on the insides of the cabins, which can't be seen unless you take the cabins off the boat or stick your head inside the cockpit....but at least I know they are there.

also lined up and painted are the fire extinguishers for the boats.



















and finally today, didn't get much time but cut out, stained and then fittted some lifebelt chocks to the "Smuts"

Well, my friend who posts on here as "Trawlerman" came to my rescue today and loaned me his camera so that I could take photos as I am nearing the end of the builds, and photograph what I started yesterday.
started off yesterday by glazing all the port light outer and innners...........I cut the glazing from some old clear plastic that I tend to keep from the kids birthday and christmas pressies.............and cut the circles using a compass cutter...........the discs were pressed into the ports and then I back filled them with a little clear 2 part epoxy adhesive to seal them all up.
finally all the ports were glued into the pre cut holes using cyano.

the next set of shots are some pics of the smaller fittings that go to fine detail the models........."coat hooks" for hanging the binoculars in the cabins, hathets and axes, knives, chart tubes etc, etc.
but before that the inner port opening covers have been fitted where visible in the boats.

And finally a few deck details have been added........chocks for lifebelts, hand grab rails at the stern of the two Watsons, plus fairleads and I think you can just see the fore samson post and Mast crutch on the Smut's bow.