KeithAug

It is absolutely fabulous Gary, a proper little treasure. I am jealous.

The plating is very impressive - did you say earlier that you had checked that water would not get behind it and delaminate it?

I have to say that I found your rust bucket to be a charming choice of vessel. I wish you luck with your first scratch build.

The hull frames are looking very good. You have not lost your touch. One frame a day seems like a good target allowing plenty of time to admire your own handy work, and of course spot and correct any anomalies. I'm glad you are starting to feel better, I hope things accelerate from here. It is still a bit damp over here😐.

Planking sound like a nightmare. Good luck.

As impressive as ever.

Thank you Chris. It is a bit too shiny at the moment so I plan to knock it back a little with fine wire wool.

It seems to be going very well Michael. I am assuming from your comment that finish to the hull is going to leave the planking runs visible?

Thank you Druxey, Andy, Tom, Mark Michael and Pat. I have had a few days away and inevitably outside jobs and getting the garden in shape is taking much of my time. However I did get some time in the shipyard over the weekend. With the cap rails in place I moved on to the fore deck planking. The small aft deck pieces were also installed. I also started to make the spray rails here the first is pinned in place prior to gluing. On the rear face of the fore deck is a bit of trim with fillet radii where it joins the cap rails. I cut the fillet pieces first. And then inserted the trim and fillet radii. The spray boards also have a fillet piece where the cross board joins the side boards. I made the fillet as a tube before cutting out the necessary fillet pieces. I then installed all the spray boards. I also made an angled facia for mounting the wheel. I then sanded the upper profile of the spray board and tried the wheel again. I then made the lift out access board at the stern. I then diverted my attention to the various deck fittings etc. I started with the hand rails for the swimming step. I made a small jig to aid the process of making these. A while later I had most of the fittings done. I then spent some time on sanding and finishing before attaching the various fittings. I have yet to install the swimming step.

Thank you Ken and Pat for your comments. Thanks to everyone for the likes. I had a bit of fun making the boats wheel. I sized the wheel at .44" outside diameter with a .16" hub (15.8" OD at full size) I started with .5" brass rod which I reduced in diameter to .44". The bore was then drilled out to .375" leaving an annulus .032" thick. 6 equi-spaced .027" dia holes were then drilled round the annulus. The hub was drilled with 6 more holes and then parted off from a .160" dia rod. 5 stainless steel pins were then inserted to support the hub (one through pin and 4 further pins) these were glued in place with CA. The pins were then cut off prior to the .5" rod being re mounted in the lathe chuck. The pins were then machined flush and hub bore was re drilled and a shaft inserted. The edges of the annulus were then rounded before the wheel was parted off. The wheel was then flipped round and held by the shaft for the reverse of the annulus to be carefully profiled. A fun little job😀

Thank you to all of you who have left recent comments and suggestions and thanks to everyone who has visited and liked my work. I will pick up some of the suggestions in a later post. I have been doing a bit more work on the launch. I installed the aft well deck floor and then made card templates of the aft seating. The templates were used to shape the seats and then these were glued in place with PVA glue. I then moved on to making the cap rails. these could have been cut from solid but I thought it would look better if they were laminated. To get the correct shape I taped a card to the top of the hull and then marked out the shape using the hull as a template. Before mounting the cap rails I decided to install the throttle lever together with the fuel gauge and rev counter.. These were mounted in the location vacated by the boats wheel. Each cap rail was laminated from 3 strips of mahogany, formed to shape over the template and held in place with pins until the PVA glue dried. The rails in the next photo are being checked for shape prior to gluing. Once satisfied with the shape I sanded the surfaces of the rails and then glued them in place using "Starbucks stick clamps" and elastic bands. Starbucks sticks are of variable quality - note the fracture. Once the first rail was dry the second was glued in place. Both rails are now in place so I will move on to the ships wheel next.

Eberhard - thank you for the explanation, it must have been quite stressful waiting for the gun to discharge. Also thank you for the link, I wasn't aware of this ships existence. Lovely model work as usual.

I like that idea.

An impressive piece of lumberjacking😁

Eberhard / Tom - I think I will insulate the underside of the cover. I may leave the cover loose and do the big reveal it when showing people around.

Eberhard - yes it is water cooled - the water pump is hidden behind the flywheel and the distributor is buried beneath the exhaust manifold. I forgot the oil filter though. 😁 Gary / Keith - thank you. Having finished the engine and its base I started to build the engine box in the hull - firstly installing the central bulkhead bench seats. The forward well deck was installed and the engine box was then built with the engine temporarily put in place. The engine was hidden by the box cover which provided a bit of additional seating. The frames on the actual launch are quite widely spaced and this was repeated on the model launch. The frames were made from mahogany which was steamed, bent to shape and then glued in position. The seating in the front well was then installed. The aft well deck was then installed.

Thank you Keith, Gary, John, Pat, Hakan and Andy. Also thanks to everyone for the likes. I continued work on the launch - firstly by completing the engine. The inlet manifold with carburettor was made from brass rod. The air filter housing was then made from a piece of aluminium rod. I then mounted the inlet and outlet manifolds and painted the body. The engine support was made from a piece of mahogany cut to a taper to align the engine with the prop shaft. The spark plugs are also installed.

Ah, yes. I forgot about the rivet deficiency😁

Hakan, glad to see you back in the workshop even if it is only an interlude between the daily IV treatments. Noting Vaddoc’s comment I think it unlikely that the average medic would be as pedantic about their craft as the average msw builder. Your framing and keel are looking very good. Sometimes slow and sure is the best strategy for both model boats and convalescing builders.

Mike, I Love the masts, very nicely done. I’m not quite sure what the benefits are of the tailstock Chuck. Why wasn’t it possible to restrain the tailstock end of the mast using a live centre?

Eberhard, the 2 steering positions are very exposed. Was there an alternative protected steering position? The forward steering poison must have been a bit exciting when the gun was fired. Lovely detail.

Interesting solution, I must remember that!

A true labour of love Keith.

Beautiful, a work of art.

Tom - I kept the machining fairly simple and finished the shape with a needle file before twisting the blades. Not too professional a job but sufficient at the size. I agree Mark - Germania has a RIB for that. Thank you Michael and Keith for your comments. I haven't been doing much of late - other issues have been distracting me from model making. However here is a modest update. A pair of rubbing strips are mounted at the stern. These were held in place with rubber bands before being glued with CA. 3 holes were drilled in the stern - one for the exhaust and 2 for the swimming platform step I then cut the hull from the building board. Then came the delicate task of removing the frames. Some had been "caught" by the planking glue but with a little delicate persuasion they came free. The hull by this stage was very delicate and light as a feather. I needed to do a bit of internal clean up and I did this with a scraper. In the next photo i have just made a start. I then needed to start adding some of the internal detail such as the forward bulkhead (with locker cut out). Then the seating on either side of the central bulkhead. I also added thin reinforcing strips on the inside of the hull at deck level. This made the hull feel much stronger and gave me a bit more surface for gluing on the deck edge planks. Finally I thickened the stern bulkhead and cut out the access way to the swimming step. The next job was the deck planking. I used my now (much preferred) method of making the planks. I cut a strip of wood with a thickness equal to desired plank width. I then glue card to the wood and when dry slit off the deck planks - already with the caulking attached to one side. The planks are then glued together. This is a very simple neat and quick planking method. I then spent a bit of time making the templates for the decks. I also sanded the balsa blocks at the bow ready for the planking. I then started to think about the engine. It needed to sit within a engine box measuring .650" x .650" x .950". The real launch probably has a small Volvo Penta diesel but my launch is going to get something which looks a bit more traditional. I decided on a twin pot petrol engine of 1930's vintage. It has an air filter and caburettor which sits abreast the inlet manifold. The engine is cross flow with the exhaust manifold on the opposite side. The reduction gear box is at the rear and this is attached directly to the prop shaft. A large flywheel sits at the opposite end. This of course is a complete flight of fancy. The crank case is made for a piece of 1/4" brass rod. It is slotted to take the engine mounting flanges and two holes are machined to mount the piston sleeves. A central hole (right hand side) is drilled to take the prop shaft. The mounting flanges and the piston sleeves are then soldered in place. The inlet and exhaust holes are then drilled in the piston sleeve. The block is then parted off from the bar stock and a flywheel is attached before fitting the spark plugs. More to follow.