17-21 is back in the work shop and work has started again.

Its been sometime since I have done any work on my
Severn , so its time to get my butt in gear and get her finished.

 I have decided that the best way to complete the rest of the work is to start at the bow and work to the stern. My first job was to complete the already started pulpit rail for the bow, which is now done, and the holes have been drilled in the deck to take the up rights.

The Pulpit is made from solid brass bar and bent into shape from the R.N.L.I. drawing not to hard to make, but some care is need to get it to look right.One thing I did find is the etched brass flanges that fit to the bottom of each upright is the center hole is to small as I wanted to slide the flange over the rod, this meant that I could then drill the deck to pass some of the upright through, and set the flange to the same angle as the deck. The best way to drill them is one at a time on the bench drill holding them with a pair of pliers, if you take care its not a problem.With this part done and temporary fitted to the deck next job was to make up one of the two hand rails that is fitted to the wheelhouse front section, from the underside of the small window then goes at the same angle as the rope lockers and then bends down on to the deck.

I fitted masking tape over the paint work on the wheelhouse in the area I was going to be working so that I didn?t mark the paint plus it also gives a better way to mark out for the holes.

Window wiper boxes.

The wheelhouse has
Severn wiper boxes which fit above the five front windows and the first side window on the port and starboard sides; these are made up in etched brass and have some interesting fold lines in them.

One of the hardest things I found to get right was the small vertical fold line, I did a practice run on one unit to start with, after having a couple of goes to find  the best way to fold them.

I also found that you are best to fold them over a piece of sold alloy or brass plate with a good straight edge to the same thickness as the small fold line this being about 2.5mm thick. I did this fold first then I folded the angle which is a bout 45 deg’s then folded the under part of the wiper box (the bottom) then finished of with the back.

With this done I soldered them up, the next job was to cut them to size and fix on the end plates which come with them, these I super glued on in place.

The wiper boxes are mounted to the wheelhouse on two small pieces of u channel, which I also cut to the same size as the depth of the wiper box and super glued them on. When you look at the detail of how the wiper blade movement is made up there are four main parts, 1 the round wiper arm top, 2 the small box section that the wiper blade fits too, 3 the wiper arm mounting tube with is fitted to the underside of the wiper box, the wiper blade.

I had a trip to my local model shop( yes I do still have one) to have a look in the K&S rack, I found some small brass box section which was idea for the lower wiper arm, on retuning home I cut the box section first to a length of 16mm, then a piece of brass tube to the same length, to join these together I used a small piece of solid brass bar cut longer then the tube and box section, I then fitted this inside the box and tube and glued it in place with super glue, next I drilled the small piece of tube that fits to the underside of the wiper box with a .085mm drill, then glued this to the wiper box, and then glued the wiper arm on the wiper box, I then cut a small length of plastic-card to make the wiper blade glued this to the arm and job done!!!   

On each side of the lower wheelhouse runs a safety wire that the lifeboat crew can clip themselves on to in rough seas, this runs from just under the first vent box at the bow along to the recovery hoist at the stern.

I made this up from some stainless steel wire and some very small turn buckles that I found in my bits box, I made up the two mounting flanges from brass sheet and rod, and packed them out from the side with some plastic-card.The safety wire is covered in a coating on the real Severn ,so to get this effect I slid some small cable heat shrink in black over the wire.

Windscreen washer Pipe work.

So the wiper boxes are painted and fitted next job is to make and fit all the window washer pipe work!!

Looking at my photos of the Severn there is a washer jet to all of the front wheelhouse windows plus the first side window on the port and starboard sides, this is going to be fun to make up me thinks!!.

The washer pipe work is made up in stainless steel on the real
Severn and starts from just behind the middle front rope locker, travels towards the middle front wheelhouse window, then runs under each window to the port and starboard sides. There is a tee fitted between each window then the pipe works goes’ up-wards between each window and finishes ¾ the way up to the next tee, then a sort length of pipe from that tee makes up the window washer jet.

My first job was to make up the nine tees required, these I cut from some small brass tube and silver soldiered them together with each of the vertical stainless rod I was using to give the pipe work effect’s then soldiered the other tee at the top with the washer jet pipe work fitted.

The washer pipe work is spaced off from the wheelhouse on the real
Severn with black pipe clips, this I did by using some small solid plastic squire rod, and I super glued all 16 of them in place to the wheelhouse. Next I made  the main feed pipe that comes from behind the middle rope locker and fitted this with a tee, from this tee I then made up the rest of the pipe work to each washer riser to each window super gluing each one in place as I went," good old super glue". With this all now done all that was left was to paint the tees silver and paint all the pipe work mounting blocks black just like the real Severn.

To do all this has taken me about 12 hours but it sure looks great I am well happy with it all finished.

UHF aerial.

On the top of the wheelhouse roof where the black lifeboat number is, is mounted a UHF aerial.

This I made from some brass sheet and painted it black and glued it in place.

Wheelhouse bow lighting.

On the front of the wheelhouse above the front windows are two spot lights which light up the bow area, there are also two more lights which are under the rope lockers near the deck line, which also help with lighting up the lower deck area.

As my main power voltage is 12 volts I wanted to use 12 volt lighting as it is much brighter than the 6 volt grain of wheat bulbs, plus this means I do not knead yet another battery on board. I did think about using 12 volt LEDs but these are OK if you want forward light and not an all round light that a normal bulb gives you.
Rob be I have found do the best type of grain of wheat bulbs I have used them for years on all my boats I have built and not had one so far I have needed to change.

Looking through the
Rob be catalogue I can across a set of 12 volt grain of wheat bulbs that are 12 volt which comes in a set to light up there Trucks they do so that’s that then. The two lower deck lights I fitted by drilling a hole to take a small length of brass tube and glued them in place, and then I pushed the lamp through with a small amount of silicon sealant on at the back of the bulb and pushed it flush with the end of the tube.

I then fitted the lamp cover over this job done.

The two spot lights that are on the front part of the wheelhouse are not exactly the right shape, but as I want them working I have had to do a bit of a compromise and they are not that far out, the ones I have used are from Graupner, I have cut off the mounting foot and silver soldered on a small flat piece of brass plate to make the mount for them, this I then bent to shape to fit the wheelhouse and painted them black just as the real Severn, there are two more to be fitted on top of the man recovery crane at a later date.

I have glued them in place on the wheelhouse and refitted the lenses to which I have drill two small holes in to let any heat out. The cable from these then goes into the wheelhouse through a cable gland, which I have made up by using a 2mm steel washer and a small length of plastic tube glued to the washer, this I then fitted next to the spot light and then drill through this in to the wheelhouse to push the cables through, these I will paint silver as per the real cable gland.

When I have completed all the lighting on the wheelhouse, I will remove the interior I have made, and run all the cables to a single point in the wheelhouse, I will then have a fly lead to the main battery via a micro switch on a servo to turn my lights on and off from the transmitter, well that’s my idea at the moment we will see.

Had a sort break away with the caravan over easter, so I decided to take the Y-boat with me to make a start in building it. I must say it is a very good kit in itself, there are instructions with it on how to build it with some very good tips in what to do and what not to do.

After making up the marking Gauge to mark round where the two tubes should be cut to, I then trimmed out the two tube half's, now having worked with plastic many times before it is a very forgiving material.Once I had got the two tube half's as near as I could get them I joined them together with plastic weld, when they had set I filled in the gaps which you will get and let this set.

I then spent sometime rubbing down the join line with 800 wet and dry to start with, then finishing off with 1200 wet and dry to end up with a very good finish I must say. I have also made up a ply transom which is as per the real Y-boat which I took a patten from the perspex one supplied in the kit. I have now cut out all the other parts that need to be fitted to the tubes to complete the y-boat to which I will fit before I spray it later this week.

Now some of the new y-boats are all orange in color, but the Newhaven one is in the old colour's which is mostly Grey with some orange trimming.