Blue Ensign

Post Six
 
Stern and bow patterns.
 
I wasn’t too keen on working the bow and stern patterns off-model, particularly the stern.
As it happens, for the bow pattern the off-model option was removed; unlike the bow pattern bulkhead which wouldn’t shift after fitting the patterns.
It slid on ok and I was careful not to allow glue onto the keel, but move it would not and I had the nightmare vision of snapping the false keel which at only 3mm wide and quite long is very vulnerable at this stage.
 
So, on-model fairing it will be.
 
For preliminary fairing of the stern pattern I am using 10mm and 20mm Finger sanders, initially with coarse grade paper.
It is worth slipping a couple of lengths of waste strip from the keel fret between the stern patterns to support them during sanding, particularly parts 24.
One of mine fell off during sanding, probably due to insufficient glue used to avoid sticking it to the keel.

3816(2)
So, this is as far as I felt comfortable with off-model fairing.

3825(2)

3819(2)

3826(2)
All Bulkheads glued into place now.

3812
Only been four days and look at the state of my working area, think I need a general tidy up.
 
B.E.
28/08/21

What are "Finger sanders," BE? 
 
Nice work area...you have some elbow room!

Post Six
 
Stern and bow patterns.
 
I wasn’t too keen on working the bow and stern patterns off-model, particularly the stern.
As it happens, for the bow pattern the off-model option was removed; unlike the bow pattern bulkhead which wouldn’t shift after fitting the patterns.
It slid on ok and I was careful not to allow glue onto the keel, but move it would not and I had the nightmare vision of snapping the false keel which at only 3mm wide and quite long is very vulnerable at this stage.
 
So, on-model fairing it will be.
 
For preliminary fairing of the stern pattern I am using 10mm and 20mm Finger sanders, initially with coarse grade paper.
It is worth slipping a couple of lengths of waste strip from the keel fret between the stern patterns to support them during sanding, particularly parts 24.
One of mine fell off during sanding, probably due to insufficient glue used to avoid sticking it to the keel.

3816(2)
So, this is as far as I felt comfortable with off-model fairing.

3825(2)

3819(2)

3826(2)
All Bulkheads glued into place now.

3812
Only been four days and look at the state of my working area, think I need a general tidy up.
 
B.E.
28/08/21

Post Six
 
Stern and bow patterns.
 
I wasn’t too keen on working the bow and stern patterns off-model, particularly the stern.
As it happens, for the bow pattern the off-model option was removed; unlike the bow pattern bulkhead which wouldn’t shift after fitting the patterns.
It slid on ok and I was careful not to allow glue onto the keel, but move it would not and I had the nightmare vision of snapping the false keel which at only 3mm wide and quite long is very vulnerable at this stage.
 
So, on-model fairing it will be.
 
For preliminary fairing of the stern pattern I am using 10mm and 20mm Finger sanders, initially with coarse grade paper.
It is worth slipping a couple of lengths of waste strip from the keel fret between the stern patterns to support them during sanding, particularly parts 24.
One of mine fell off during sanding, probably due to insufficient glue used to avoid sticking it to the keel.

3816(2)
So, this is as far as I felt comfortable with off-model fairing.

3825(2)

3819(2)

3826(2)
All Bulkheads glued into place now.

3812
Only been four days and look at the state of my working area, think I need a general tidy up.
 
B.E.
28/08/21

Post Five
Aft platform modification
This involves cutting away a section of the false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10.

3805
I have restricted this to the area covered by the ladderway only, the hatchway is grated and covered by the Upper deck capstan.
I used a section of unused maple decking from my Zulu build for the platform, sufficient for the purpose.

3802
Checking the level.

3808(2)
The aft ladderway down to the platform from the Lower deck is almost directly below the Aft Ladderway on the Upper deck, so  that ladder will probably obscure most of the view down to the Aft Platform, but I'll know it's there.😀
 
Time to get back to the main event.
 
B.E.
27/08/21
 

Post Six
 
Stern and bow patterns.
 
I wasn’t too keen on working the bow and stern patterns off-model, particularly the stern.
As it happens, for the bow pattern the off-model option was removed; unlike the bow pattern bulkhead which wouldn’t shift after fitting the patterns.
It slid on ok and I was careful not to allow glue onto the keel, but move it would not and I had the nightmare vision of snapping the false keel which at only 3mm wide and quite long is very vulnerable at this stage.
 
So, on-model fairing it will be.
 
For preliminary fairing of the stern pattern I am using 10mm and 20mm Finger sanders, initially with coarse grade paper.
It is worth slipping a couple of lengths of waste strip from the keel fret between the stern patterns to support them during sanding, particularly parts 24.
One of mine fell off during sanding, probably due to insufficient glue used to avoid sticking it to the keel.

3816(2)
So, this is as far as I felt comfortable with off-model fairing.

3825(2)

3819(2)

3826(2)
All Bulkheads glued into place now.

3812
Only been four days and look at the state of my working area, think I need a general tidy up.
 
B.E.
28/08/21

Post Five
Aft platform modification
This involves cutting away a section of the false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10.

3805
I have restricted this to the area covered by the ladderway only, the hatchway is grated and covered by the Upper deck capstan.
I used a section of unused maple decking from my Zulu build for the platform, sufficient for the purpose.

3802
Checking the level.

3808(2)
The aft ladderway down to the platform from the Lower deck is almost directly below the Aft Ladderway on the Upper deck, so  that ladder will probably obscure most of the view down to the Aft Platform, but I'll know it's there.😀
 
Time to get back to the main event.
 
B.E.
27/08/21
 

Post Six
 
Stern and bow patterns.
 
I wasn’t too keen on working the bow and stern patterns off-model, particularly the stern.
As it happens, for the bow pattern the off-model option was removed; unlike the bow pattern bulkhead which wouldn’t shift after fitting the patterns.
It slid on ok and I was careful not to allow glue onto the keel, but move it would not and I had the nightmare vision of snapping the false keel which at only 3mm wide and quite long is very vulnerable at this stage.
 
So, on-model fairing it will be.
 
For preliminary fairing of the stern pattern I am using 10mm and 20mm Finger sanders, initially with coarse grade paper.
It is worth slipping a couple of lengths of waste strip from the keel fret between the stern patterns to support them during sanding, particularly parts 24.
One of mine fell off during sanding, probably due to insufficient glue used to avoid sticking it to the keel.

3816(2)
So, this is as far as I felt comfortable with off-model fairing.

3825(2)

3819(2)

3826(2)
All Bulkheads glued into place now.

3812
Only been four days and look at the state of my working area, think I need a general tidy up.
 
B.E.
28/08/21

Whilst I await the arrival of my next project I have continued to play around with more Watermen figures to people the barge.
 
After much faffing around I decided on six figures as this seemed to give the best balance on the boat without giving an overcluttered look.
 
The figures as with the original oarsman are all derived from various 1:24 scale figures from Deans Marine.
 
In setting the figures the trickiest part is fixing the oars in the vertical position. I had to resort to smearing ca on the palms of the rowers to secure them.
I didn’t wish to mar the varnished thwarts, so a thin strip of Blu-tac was used to secure the oarsmen in place.

3422

3423

3413

3425

3438(2)

3437(2)

3411(3)

3398

3401(3)
 
I think I can now declare the model finally finished, time to clear the workroom for the arrival of Sphinx.
 
B.E.
 
16/08/2021
 
 

Thanks for the likes.
 
The kit supplies gangways which extend from the quarterdeck forward for a short distance. I decided to follow TFFM and add gangboards which will run from the end of the gangways to the foredeck. There are several consequences to this decision - the gangways have to be raised a few mm so that they are very slightly above the level of the cap rail in the waist, the two ladders leading from the upper deck to the foredeck are no longer required, there is no mention in TFFM of hammock cranes along the cap rail in the waist so these will be omitted, and there are stanchions along the waist cap rail now with a rough tree rail on top.
 
The photo shows the supplied ply gangway held in place as per the instructions.
 

 
The gangway needed to be raised, which required trimming of the aft end so that it would fit flush against the quarterdeck breast beam rather than being below it. The ply also needs to be faced with planks. If I’d used the ply, I would have had to hide it’s exposed edge, so rather than do this, I made new gangways of edge joined planks. I didn’t think that simple edge gluing of the gangway against the bulwark was going to work very well, especially as the gangway is supposed to be slightly higher than the cap rail, so I added two blocks on the underside of the gangway to give a much larger gluing area. The photo shows the new gangways, trimmed to fit, with the knee and blocks. Only one knee is shown in TFFM, not the two supplied in the kit.
 

 
The new gangways in place.
 

 
 
The gangboards were made by edge gluing two, pre-bent, planks together. Four knees are supposed to support the gangboards, but in spite of several attempts,I couldn’t get these in place, so resorted to Plan B - gluing small blocks along the edge of the boards and then gluing the boards to the bulwarks. Fixing the knees in place would have been very easy if I had planned on adding the gangboards early in the build. The blocks are not visible, and I don’t think the knees would have been either.
 

 
So, the gangways/gangboards are in place.
 

 
 

 
Cheers

Hi Jacek, look up BECC Model flags, I think they have EU Stockists.
Have you thought of printing your own using Modelspan tissue,  gives a far better scale appearance.
 
B.E.

Post Five
Aft platform modification
This involves cutting away a section of the false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10.

3805
I have restricted this to the area covered by the ladderway only, the hatchway is grated and covered by the Upper deck capstan.
I used a section of unused maple decking from my Zulu build for the platform, sufficient for the purpose.

3802
Checking the level.

3808(2)
The aft ladderway down to the platform from the Lower deck is almost directly below the Aft Ladderway on the Upper deck, so  that ladder will probably obscure most of the view down to the Aft Platform, but I'll know it's there.😀
 
Time to get back to the main event.
 
B.E.
27/08/21
 

Well done Glenn, great photos of the bow/stern  off- model fairing process. 👍
 
B.E.

Post Five
Aft platform modification
This involves cutting away a section of the false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10.

3805
I have restricted this to the area covered by the ladderway only, the hatchway is grated and covered by the Upper deck capstan.
I used a section of unused maple decking from my Zulu build for the platform, sufficient for the purpose.

3802
Checking the level.

3808(2)
The aft ladderway down to the platform from the Lower deck is almost directly below the Aft Ladderway on the Upper deck, so  that ladder will probably obscure most of the view down to the Aft Platform, but I'll know it's there.😀
 
Time to get back to the main event.
 
B.E.
27/08/21
 

Yes it can, I detailed my approach in my Pegasus log - Page 9 post 246,
Here's a link to Chuck's Cheerful instructions where he used the same system
Chapter-Thirteen.pdf (syrenshipmodelcompany.com)
 
Give it a go, nothing to lose except some printer ink.
 
B.E.

Hi Jacek, look up BECC Model flags, I think they have EU Stockists.
Have you thought of printing your own using Modelspan tissue,  gives a far better scale appearance.
 
B.E.

Post Five
Aft platform modification
This involves cutting away a section of the false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10.

3805
I have restricted this to the area covered by the ladderway only, the hatchway is grated and covered by the Upper deck capstan.
I used a section of unused maple decking from my Zulu build for the platform, sufficient for the purpose.

3802
Checking the level.

3808(2)
The aft ladderway down to the platform from the Lower deck is almost directly below the Aft Ladderway on the Upper deck, so  that ladder will probably obscure most of the view down to the Aft Platform, but I'll know it's there.😀
 
Time to get back to the main event.
 
B.E.
27/08/21
 

Nice work.

That's an excellent video Richard, and of great value to the modeller.
It informs both scale and use of the many fittings, as well as being of general interest.
 
B.E.

The copy I have is  the third impression published in 1981, it only has 'Sailing Trawlers' on the spine, but the inside Title page includes the sub title The story of Deep-sea fishing with long line and trawl.
 
My copy was published in Great Britain for David &Charles (Publishers) Ltd, and is published in the USA by David & Charles Inc.
It is a 384 page book, and I don't think you need worry whether it is some sort of abridged version, it contains all the plans and rigging tables.
 
It is in exactly the same layout as the companion volume Sailing drifters of which I have the original 1952 version. This volume is of great interest to those building the Fifie and Zulu models, and I used it extensively in my builds.
 
B.E.

You know the old story Chris, the Germans made the rules, the British obeyed the rules, French ignored the rules, and the Italians said rules, what rules.
 
B.E.
 

Erik, if you can get hold of Sailing Trawlers by Edgar J. March there are details of her scantlings and rigging sizes, together with four pages of plans.
 
B.E.

I wish, and who could resist a day out in The Forest of Dean, our spaniel would love it. 😃

Don't bother wrapping it Chris, I'll drive over and pick it up😉
 
B.E.

Post Five
Aft platform modification
This involves cutting away a section of the false keel between bulkheads 9 and 10.

3805
I have restricted this to the area covered by the ladderway only, the hatchway is grated and covered by the Upper deck capstan.
I used a section of unused maple decking from my Zulu build for the platform, sufficient for the purpose.

3802
Checking the level.

3808(2)
The aft ladderway down to the platform from the Lower deck is almost directly below the Aft Ladderway on the Upper deck, so  that ladder will probably obscure most of the view down to the Aft Platform, but I'll know it's there.😀
 
Time to get back to the main event.
 
B.E.
27/08/21