Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Here you can see the standoffs for the pipework (which feed the fire tenders). I have drilled the holes and placed them in the holes without gluing. I will use these standoffs as a guide for making the pipework, which can be glued to these and removed as one piece for spraying the superstructure and painting the pipework.
The spotlights on top of the bridge. I have added leds to these so that they are working lamps. There are two small holes behind the spotlight fixing for the led wires and the leds will be connected on the inside of the roof with connectors used for other parts of the wiring shown previously. You can also see the horn stand in this photograph. None of these parts are glued into place so that they can be removed when spraying the superstructure. Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Because of the 3mm leds' sensitivity to heat (or my bad soldering technique), I bought some turn-pin 0.1 inch sockets to solder up, so that I can just push the led into place. That way, I don't blow up any leds and they can be disconnected for maintenance. The led here has longer leads than I am going to use because I was just testing the loom. Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Here are all of the mast parts being prepared for assembling and painting. The ladders are top left (filled and ready for sanding) and the brass lamp bracket for the top of the mast is top right. This latter part is also conductive so has the led shorting issue outlined earlier. I am yet to sort out a way of fixing the leds to this part.
Here's a thing... The mast lighting brackets are made from white metal which is, of course, conductive. The wires for the leds would short out when they passed through the bracket. To get around this, I have drilled 4mm holes in the brackets so that the led covers fit snugly . I will glue them in place and the leds will snap into them, whilst being isolated from the metal by the led cover.Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Friday, May 08, 2009
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Here I have added some of the fittings to the superstructure because no skirting is being installed where these items are. The vent will also have to be placed before the front skirting is finished, but this proved to be too short, and I have added a piece as discussed in the previous post. The masking tape on the desk is so that the skirting does not stick to the desk, like when I added skirting to the bridge.
This shows the additional ladders being filled after cleaning up, the extension to the vent because it was too short and the mast supports, one with a hole in in to accommodate the wiring from the funnel, as discussed below. I have added a bottom piece to the mast supports in order to hide the wiring. Both pieces will need filling and cleaning up later.Thursday, April 09, 2009
Sunday, April 05, 2009
There is a small gap at the rear of the bridge as the superstructure beneath this drops slightly. Rather than try to raise the superstructure underneath, which is attached to the funnels and other parts, I think I will add a skirting to the bottom of the bridge, either just at the back or all of the way around.Thursday, April 02, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Here are the custom made decals I bought from becc via www.modelflags.com . The numbers at the bottom are the samples that they sent to me to test before buying. I prefer these to the included decal "transfers" and I have also purchased 1:50 hull markings to match. The decals are waterproof when fitted - I tested on the trial numbers sent !Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Friday, December 28, 2007
I have an earlier post saying that the filler that I use is good, but melts plasticard if used carelessly. I used the filler to fill a couple of the lower superstructure parts, so that they would be stronger for sanding and filling. However, I put too much in at once and the heat produced melted the plastic. I will have to remake the parts.Monday, December 24, 2007
I have cut the port holes in the lower superstructure. The white metal fittings will hide the slightly rough cuts I have produced.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
As the inside of the bridge will be inaccessible when assembled, I have started to paint the inside of the bridge walls. The front and rear section needed to be bent to the shape of the side pieces. Some of the window frames snapped during this process as they are quite thin. In the picture here, you can see that I have glued and filled the resultant gaps in the frames.
I have purchased the leds for the lights on the boat. They are 3mm (superbright type) with coloured caps as the leds are "water clear" making them look more like lights than leds. They were very expensive (for leds) but they look right for the boat. I have also purchased the wiring for the boat. I chose white and grey colours for + and - as they are easier to hide than red and black (for instance). Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
After successfully testing the stickers I plan to use for the name of the boat and hull markings on varnished paint, I decided to spray varnish the hull at this stage. Here is the boat masked up and ready for spray varnishing. The port holes for the anchors have been fitted. After several coats of varnish, there is little difference. This is good, I suppose, but it does mean the hull is less easy to scratch (this is what I found from testing a spare piece of plasticard).Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Here are the rudders completed with the bottom guides glued in place. Actually there is a little tidying up to do that you cannot see here.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
I have glued the two halves of each rudder together with epoxy, filled, sanded and painted with primer. The shafts have been sanded where the rudder will glue to the shaft and the rudder servo attachments now have a link to ensure both turn together when attached to the servo. The dowels you can see were used to hold the rudders while painting.Monday, May 14, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Sunday, December 31, 2006
I have decided to re-fill the gap between the rear deck and rear bulwarks again for a better finish. Meanwhile, while I wait for the filler to dry, so that I can sand it smooth, I have cut all of the pieces required for the rear deck bulwarks. For some reason, two pieces (one from each side of the boat) are too short. I will make some longer ones from spare styrene. Thursday, December 21, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
This is the mess I have made of the filling around the bow. I will be refilling and sanding when the new filler (Plasto) has arrived that I have ordered. Beware this filler is good, but "melts" the plastic card if used carelessly. Meanwhile I am going to start cutting out the extra parts for the front of the bow...Thursday, December 07, 2006
Saturday, December 02, 2006
I did not want to just glue the frame that holds the bridge etc. just to the end of the plastic card of the upper deck as I thought it would not be secure enough. I have added these supports underneath the upper deck. They will allow the frame that the bridge etc. sits on to be securely glued to something.Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Sunday, April 16, 2006
I decided to fit the mooring rings today. I found that they were slightly too short for the thickness of the hull because of the filler that I added earlier. This called for some delicate work! In the picture above, you can see (top left) the original mooring ring. By adding short aluminium tubes to the end (bottom left and bottom right), I created a longer version (top right is a completed version). The ruler is there for scale.Thursday, April 13, 2006
Next I prepared the rudder servo levers. The rudder shaft had to have a piece cut from each to allow the bolt to go through. These will have to be in place before the rear deck is mounted, and therefore the propellers will have to be in place, as they cannot be fitted after the rudders are in place. I am thinking about how and when the running gear is to be primed and painted as the propellers are brass and I don't want to get paint on the part. Saturday, April 01, 2006
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
A close-up showing the deck reinforcements as suggested by the Model Slipway instruction book. I have also added so reinforcements of my own design at the point where the main deck supports intersect. I have reinforced the edges with epoxy. Everything sits on top of these supports so they need to be rightMonday, February 13, 2006
Friday, January 20, 2006
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