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General Photos |
Lifeboat Model Page |
Speedline Trent 14-14 Commission Build |
scale lifeboats |
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General Photos |
Lifeboat Model Page |
Speedline Trent 14-14 Commission Build |
scale lifeboats |
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Stern Detail up date. In total this week I have spent 15hrs making up the four trim tab ram detail, are they hard to make? Well no they just take time. If you want them to look right! I have also tried a couple of ways of making them work but I feel that you louse the detail effect, so this I have now decide not to do. I made the two outer rams first, this I did as follows. After I had trimmed them out of the etched sheet, I first soldered the ram pivot bracket on to its back plate, after drilling two holes 1.2mm dial to take a 14 BA bolt, this will hold the ram in place just like the real one and will also pivot?s I then cut the two rams from some 4mm dial brass k&s tubing, drilled a hole thought the top of it then fitted the bolt thought to attach it with a nut on each side. There are three loops that protect the ram from damage these I made from 1mm brass rod, the next thing was to find something I could bend them round to make the hoop, I used my small ? drive extension with was just the right size. After making up 12 hoops I then soldered each one on at a time, because they are not all at the same height, I then used the same 1mm brass rod to make the center bar up as well. The best way I found to do this was to hang the ram detail on the end of the rod and then solder it in place, then trim it of after. I then fitted the small side plates on with super glue to finish them off. This method I used to make all four, they have now been primed and I will spray pant them over the weekend with plastic coat chrome. When I come to fit then on to the stern I will set the trim tab with a 5 to 10 degree angle on them. I had worked out with the help of Adrian from Speedline models that the real Severn would have a full trim angle of about 25 degrees, but anyone can tell me different then please let me know. Photos to follow soon, I will now be starting to fit the motors and running gear over the weekend and maybe start getting the hull ready fro some undercoat, we will see how things go!!   Motor set. I have made up the two motor sets today, which has taken a bit longer than I thought, I have used four MFA 850 with a belt system as remanded buy Adrian from Speedline models. The only difference is that I have used a motor coupling to join motor to prop shaft, and not a straight through shaft. I cut the two alloy base plates out, then marked out for the motor mounting plates, the out board motor holes I made into slots so as I could slide the motor over to take up the belt tension. I then marked out for the lower bearing blocks and fitted them in place. You can get all the motors and belts toothed pulleys, bearing blocks from MFA. After I had made up each set I then removed both the motors just leaving the base plate with the two bearings and 6mm shaft in place, much easer to line things up. The motor mounting boxes are made from 5mm thick ply, first I cut the side panel to the shape of the hull and motor base plate, I then super glued this in place, I then cut out the front mounting and also super glued this in place. The motor base plate was then removed and the ply was then fixed in place on the inside with a good amount of car body filler. Two blocks of wood were then glued in place on the inside to be used as the screw down points for the motor base plate. As this was setting I soldered the cables on to the motors with a suppressor set, I have used twin cables on + and ? these are rated at 600volts each cable, a bit over the top but as I have lots in stock don?t see the since in buying anything else. Both motors were then reinstalled and I was time to have a water test to see how many AMPS these would pull flat out. The water test. In to the pond went the hull, I set up my Multi-meter on to AMPS put it in series with the + from the motors to the battery. The battery I used for the test was a 12 volt 7.5 amph, which was fully charger, hung on to the hull made the connection to the battery, and off they went, woo ah!!!! Took some hanging on too, just on one set of motors!!!! They were reading 30AMPS on my multi meter, so all in all I would say moving on the water they will be pulling about 15 to 20 amps flat out, so all should be fine with me using my 40 amp esc. Motor set up Parts list. The MFA pulleys are 14 teeth part Number 919D7 and are all the same size, the belts I have used are not from MFA as I had them given to me, I have just checked the size and they are 370 mm long, so having a look at the MFA, you will need Part Number 919D19 at 390mm long, with give you a bit more adjustment, mine are a bit tight but work fine. You will also need bearing blocks part Number 919D30/1 there are two in each pack, the bearing has a 6mm ID so you will also need two 6mm shafts part number 919D26/1, last thing is two couplings, with a 5mm and 6mm inserts these I got from WestBourne Models. ;void(0)) ;void(0)) Stern box fitting. I have now fitted the two stern boxes to the wheelhouse, and glued in the fly bridge floor. The stern boxes I had made earlier on, all they needed was to be fixed to the wheel house and then I could fit the fly bridge floor, they do take some lining up to make sure that A they are parallel with the side of the wheel house, and B that they fit flush with the deck. The stern box up stands that are molded in the hull I have now cut completely out only leaving a lip on the inboard side. This also makes life easy for working at the stern inside, plus I could get my boxes to align better with the side of the wheelhouse. With the boxes in line I super glued them in place then fitted the extra edge detail. I then removed the wheelhouse, laid it on its side and super glued some small blocks of ply on the inside to make a stronger join, these were then also coved in body filler.  ;void(0)) Hull Painting. So it was now time to paint the hull, the weather was dry and sunny ?so lets go for it!!? First the hull was rubbed down with some 600 wet and dry, to get the sine out of the gel coat, and for the undercoat to have something to stick to, then I sprayed 8 coats of primer to the hull and left it to dry over night. Next day was rubbing down time again! , ? More rubbing down? but this time I used 1200 wet and dry with lots of clean water, when this was complete the hull was hosed off then left out to dry in the sun, ? what sun? we had some last weekend, oh! That sun. Then I sprayed the below water line in Matt red, well like red oxide, (8 coats) I then left this to dry over night. Now the water line gave me a bit of a head ache! I had taken some measurements from the R.N.L.I. drawings to which I want to transfer to the hull, this I did, but it looked wrong, so checking photos and adjusting it here and there until it looked right. All the below water line was then masked off ready for the hull sides to have its topcoat. This was done with my air brush, now I have done many hours work with a air brush, and 95% of the time it goes right, but there is always the other 5% it turns out like a dogs breakfast, yes It had to be this hull. So why? I still don?t know, it just happens, so more rubbing down and washing off and, all the other bits that go with it. Well today 24th May it is now painted all 12 coats of it, so it will now be left to set over the next week, manly because I will be away for a few days before I give it a polish with a very low amount of cutting compound then buff polish. ;void(0)) ;void(0)) ;void(0)) Hull Painting. I have know finished the painting on the hull, it has taken time to get it right, but I am now very happy with the finish. The upper wheelhouse sides I have painted tonight so it is now drying in the workshop.  Deck Painting. So what have I been up to then!! Well the deck is now painted with a non-slip deck paint I made up myself? This consisted of one tin of black Matt, with a tin of white Matt Humbrol paint mixed together until I had got the right color, well as near as I can from my photos. I then added about 200g of micro sand, which I must thank my wife for as it is used in her company for filter bed cleaning for our drinking water!!! I must say this has worked very well, the deck has had two coats, with lots of stirring as I painted it on to keep the sand afloat. I have also fitted all the bolt heads that go in the rear deck hatches on the inboard side of the two stern air intake boxes. This was not such a hard job as I had first thought, I did find it was first best to drill each hole out with a 1.3mm drilling down until I hit the deck, then I used a 4mm drill by hand to put a small chamfer on each hole. I then put some super glue in a small pot and used a piece of 1mm bass wire to put a small droplet in each hole, then using twisters I placed each bolt head over the hole and pushed it in to place, a bit fiddly to start with, but I soon got the knack. The below water line has now also had its last coat of paint, and I have now fitted the water line on as well, I have left a small edge all around the deck, as one of the next jobs to do is to fit the kick rails on to the deck ready for the hand rail work and stanchions. After this has been done, I will then fit the rubbing strip, yellow and red trim that goes under the rubbing strip and fit all the decals on the hull its self. The wheelhouse Interior is also now complete, with 45 working control lights, maps, instruments, and so on, plus the two crew men that will be inside to which the wife is doing her bit in painting them for me, this I will fit much later as I have started to rub down the wheelhouse getting it ready for the hatches to be fitted and so. ;void(0)) ;void(0)) ;void(0)) Finished and fitted stern detail. I have spent the last week finishing off making up the rest of the fittings to complete the stern detail. The trim tabs I had all ready made along with the ram cylinders, as I have said earlier I had decided not to have the trim tabs working as I wanted to keep the scale appearance of all the detail. Now that it is all finished and painted I must say it looks great, just as the real one. The ram cylinders are made from 5/32 bass tube, the connecting rod from the ram cylinder to the trim tab is 3/32 bass tube, and the coupling is 6mm o/d drilled out to fit the connecting rod, all the bass used is available from K&S Tubing. All the bolts and nuts I have used are 14.BA. I have also added the three anodes to the trim tabs, with there earth wires just as the real one, these are three half domed buttons 6mm dia. (Wife made a special trip to get them for me) I then cleaned of the lug on the underside of the button, drilled a 00.9mm hole in from the top of each one and then glued in a 14 B.A bolt with a nut on it, when this had set I soldered a small piece of wire to the bolt then fitted its top nut. I then soldered the other end of the wire to one of the dummy bolt heads on the mounting hinge. I then fitted all three trim tabs to the stern using super glue, I have set my trim tabs with a 5 deg angle down on all of them, not sure as how this will make the boat perform but we will see. I then worked from the center out wards fitting the ram cylinders to the stern these I have glued on with clear silicone as with the rest of the outlet flanges for the genie set, the hoses are all made from small cable and glued in place. In the center of the stern is the hydraulic hose retaining plate for the center rams, now is mine right or wrong Well it is wrong!! To late to change it now, so what is wrong! The mounting plate its self is OK it's the two three holed flanges that you need to solider on, I have put them on the outside edge, and not as to were they should be, at the bottom of the inset flange, this I did not realize until I had finished and painted them so that's the way they will say!! So that?s another week gone and still lots more to do!  ;void(0)) ;void(0)) Wiring out ready for testing. Where have you been!! Well I have been working hard on the Severn having made up both sides of the kick rails, but this I will write up later, as I have now completed the wiring ready for her first test run. You will see by the photos there is quite a lot to do if you want it to work and look right. The first thing I did was to mount both the speed controllers on the side of the hull, mounting them on a piece of 2mm ply this was fixed in place with car body filler. I then used for alloy spacers to mount the ESC off the ply so as to aid with any heat build up, as I was not sure as to how much heat would be generated. Next I mounted the two-on/off switches I had one for each ESC just in front of each of them, I then trimmed my cables to suit and made each one off with a fully insulated blue crimp, these were then coved in heat shrink, and as you can see I have also coved the cables in a flexible sleeve, a 30amp fuse has also been installed to each motor set. The battery tray is from my mower, All I have done is make up a new set of cables to change it to 12 volts from 24 volts and it fits nice and sung in the hull, using again some 2mm ply to stop it moving around. Just in front of this I have installed a multi spade-connecting block, for the main power supply I can then connect each ESC and any other 12-volt supplies I mite need from this. I have then laid some ply up each side of the hull to carry my power cables to the ESC. I had to make up some extension leads to the receiver for the ESCs these I have run round the top of the hull to the stern were the rudder servo tray. Now I am using two servos for the rudders one each side, linked with a y-lead to the receiver mainly because the distance between the two rudders posts is quite long and also they are not that small to move when under way. Each rod to the rudder is carbon fiber, with 2mm ball links and nice blue alloy ends with alloy servo arms, plus the servo mounting plates, and to finish off blue screw caps all available from Quick UK, Tel 01276 858570 and in a range of colors, (red, blue, gold, purple, and clear which is like a mat silver) The receiver has its own 6-volt 1100mah battery supply, which is the best way, as I don?t like taking my power supplies from the main drive battery, this is mounted in the middle between both the steering servos with its on and off switch. The bow thruster has had a motor change cos the one supplied with it is not powerful enough; this also has its own power supply on a 7.2 as per the photo. So all the wiring done now time to test it on the bench first, now my RC system is Robbe futaba FC16 so I set up each ESC as per the instruction supplied, each motor set I then ran in at low RPM to start with, plus I could also pump in some lube to the prop shafts. I ran both motors sets for about 10 minutes each, changing speed in both astern and aft, had to make some adjustments but all in all no problems, so with all this done it was now time to make a few phone calls to my boating mates to tell then we were all green for go on Saturday 2nd July. ;void(0)) ;void(0)) ;void(0)) ;void(0)) Fendering. To install the fendering is not that hard a job, it comes in one long length and the place to start is at the bow. First I un-rolled the fendering and found the center of it and made a pencil mark, then it did the same at the bow on the model. I used some ruff sand paper to ruff up the top hull line were the fendering was going to be glued, and did the same on the to be glued side of the fendering. I used good old super glue to attach the fendering to the hull applying to the fendering and not the hull, as you will know super glue will run, and the last thing I wanted was to have it running down the side of my painted hull. Now I looked long and hard at the photos to decide as to which way I should finish at the stern, I decide that I would go all the way following the hull deck line to the stern, and would then do the curve that follows the steps in a separate piece, now use a sharp knife to cut the fendering as it is soft but doe?s take some cutting if you want good straight MITREs. After doing both port and starboard sides I then fitted the stern piece leaving a longer over hang on each side, this then gave me plenty to do the mitering and finishing off. The curve piece that follows the step line is not hard to do you just need to take your time, trim a bit try it and so on until you have a good fit then glue it in place and the jobs done, I will fill any gaps I have with some black window sealant, then give the hole lot a coating of tyre polish. After this was done I then fitted the yellow and red trim line following the underside of the fendering, the fleet numbers were next, with the bow depth markings and last but not least the name on the stern. Now it is starting to look more and more like a lifeboat. ;void(0)) | The Model Build Part 3 | | The Model Build Part 2 | Model build Part 5 | Model Build Part 6 | Crew figures | Y-Boat | Sea Trials | | Motor Up Grade | 1/16th Scale Severn | 17-21 model Lifeboat Build | Tamar | Atlantic 21 | lifeboat photos on disc | | Return Home | Lifeboat General Photos | My Lifeboat Model Page | 1/12th Speedline Trent 14-14 Commission Build | Other scale lifeboats | |
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