robdurant

Thanks @Ian_Grant - yes, I need to source some light fibreglass cloth. I'm hoping to get a really smooth hull before I fibreglass it, so that the tidying up after is as limited as possible. 
 
I've gone through a few more rounds of filling / sanding, and it's really starting to look quite neat - these photos are from half way through the process. In-between filler and sanding, I put on a coat of grey primer so I can see where the peaks and troughs are...
 



The new speed controller arrived, so I've set up all the electrics and tested them. They'll do the job nicely. Things have moved on since I last made a radio controlled model, and this clever speed controller works out which way is forward based on the first direction you push the throttle stick on the radio control! Clever stuff! I had to solder a new receiver plug onto to the servo for the rudder, but otherwise, all very simple and easy. Rudder is channel 1, and Throttle channel 2. I tested the motor with an AA cell before I soldered on the speed controller to check that the prop would rotate in the correct direction - (clockwise as you look from the stern). It ended up as shown below.


I've also been looking at what colour to put on the hull... I don't want a bright blue, but something a little more towards the teal end, and somewhat more subtle... To that end, I've been experimenting... I need to re-run these experiments on grey primer, as I suspect the mix will need to change, but the picture below gives some idea of the colour I'm looking for... It's a 1:2 / 1:3 ratio of Vallejo blue/green and Vallejo blue... I tried Andrea Blue but it was too light.
 


I'm looking for something like the top left tone... Admittedly that tone will look different on each screen that displays this, but I've been looking at this in daylight and under daylight bulbs, and I'm pretty happy with the tone in real life. Having a 1:2 / 1:3 ratio makes it very easy to replicate should I need to. I just get the appropriate number of bottles and mix them in their entirety.
 
Big thanks to everyone for looking in
 
Rob

So... it seems like something of a crime to cover up planking, but I've used some car body finishing filler (polyester-resin) to begin making the hull watertight... and now begins the sanding... and more sanding... and then filling... and then sanding... and (you get the picture...)
 
First comes the filler... 

Then, after 20 minutes it's set enough to be sanded... and it's worth sanding it sooner rather than later, as it only gets harder...  I'm using a very coarse paper glued to wood to ensure I don't sand peaks and troughs into the hull... This is most certainly a job to be done outside, with a mask on, and with the door inside shut... the amount of dust is considerably...
 

It's a start. And it suggests that I will, indeed, end up with a watertight hull.
 
Thanks for looking in and for the likes and encouragement
 
Rob

I've reached a milestone - the hull is closed up. I've also cut out the beams where the deck opening is to give space to access the motor, rudder servo, battery, etc... 
 
 



Thanks for looking in, for the likes, and the encouragement
 
Rob

Thank you for these suggestions, Ian.  
 
I've moved the linkage in from the end of the servo arm to be approximately the same distance from the pivot as the on the rudder horn. I agree that this is a more sensible setup. As far as the rudder horn holes, I'm not sure why they'd be designed like that, but that's how the Billing Boats part came (unless I've just misidentified the part, and I'm using something that's meant for another bit of the build, which is entirely possible! 😂)  I'm not too concerned about a small amount of slack in the system, as this is a scale fishing boat and not a high performance motor launch, so I'm not anticipating I'll need to be doing any precision manoeuvres at speed. It feels remarkably secure, and there's not a lot of slack in the system, so I'm happy enough. It helps keep the budget under control, and it's how I've always done it in my other RC boats  
 
There's not a huge amount of "interesting" progress to show, as I'm essentially just planking the other side of the hull to close her up... but I have planked vertically around the stern to bring the planking out to the same level. I've used offcuts of the planking strips to do this.
 


And, planking on the starboard side, so far...  I can normally get between three and five planks on in a session...  The first nine planks from the bottom of the hull are full width... It won't be beautiful when it's finished, but it will be a solid base to fill and smooth. Planks are glued to the bulkheads, and edge glued to make it as solid as possible. The clamps towards the centre of the hull are to help the planks to glue nicely edge to edge, and to avoid clinker, as the bulkheads have quite a distance between them.

Thank you for the words of encouragement, @Ian_Grant. Yes, the prop-shaft and prop are from George Sitek - I've always been really impressed with their product, and that's no less true on this occasion.
 
The rudder servo tray is constructed, with the servo mounted and fitted... I've also installed the motor on its own tray and mounted that between two bulkheads. Everything's screwed in place so that it can be removed as necessary through the access hatch above. The receiver will go next to the rudder servo. A bit of brass wire has been used as the linkage between the rudder post and the rudder servo. This is bent so that it doesn't hit the bulkheads as it passes forward. Altogether, I'm quite please. Here are some pictures of progress so far.
 
I'm really glad I decided to do all of this before planking the other side closed... it's made life WAY easier

Thanks for the likes
 
Planking continues... Port side is now planked, and starboard side well underway...  I'll leave the serious sanding until I've got the whole hull planked.



Also, the right parts for the universal coupling, along with a new motor arrived... 
 

A quick update... I've added the first three rows of planking on starboard and port, and also filled in the stern between the bulkheads with balsa. To get a nice curved shape, this seemed like a necessity, especially as this model has only a single planking layer.
 

With the help of some of the planking pins, I glued the deck down. Once the glue was in place, I placed the deck, and the Aliphatic glue (Carpenter's glue) gave me enough time to predrill holes for planking pins, and secure the deck to make sure it was well in contact with all of the deck beams. Clamps were used round the inside of the deck opening.
 


 
I left it overnight to set, and then pulled the pins back out with some needlenose pliers... nice and easy. 
 

And here's a different shot showing something of her lines...
 

Thanks to those who've looked in  
 
 

I decided that I needed something to support the frames, some of these things stick up over 5” from the gun deck!

I covered some of the jigs earlier, this final one attaches to them all and is what spans the whole model length and beam to support all the frames until it’s planked and solid. You can see half of it installed below.

These two final pieces are intended to keep the jig at the proper height, they should both fit tight between both ends of the middle support jig

They are marked fwd and aft with the marked end facing all the way forward and the aft mark facing all the way aft. I just very lightly glued them in so they will be easily removed later

Just carefully work them into position and make sure they are on the outside of the longitudinal bulkhead stiffener

once both sides are complete you can begin to add the top frame jig

if you lift it up slightly and slowly work each frame into the slots it will easily set right down. it has slots that should allow it to fit down snug, you can see on each of the three jig bases below 

there is one more small piece to support the forward Timbers, it has to slide in going forward, there was just no other way to get it in or out 

once in, it will support the two forward frames as well as the  forward cant frames 

once in place, I screwed down all the jig pieces to the lower jig structure. These will need to be removed later so I wouldn’t recommend gluing them down. 

i bought a ton of rubber bands from Home Depot and started going to town on pulling all the frames together into their slots, 

Most of them are pretty close and just need a little pull to stay in place. 
Now it’s time to move onto the gunport framing, I promise this will start to look like a model ship soon!
 
 
JJ

Today I installed the QG door frames,

these are simple, but require a little work, there’s a lot of business going on in the back so some parts need to be trimmed but your saw will make quick work of this.
I started at the upper gun deck and worked my way down.

the outboard stern frame has a ledge cut in it for all the door frames to rest on, they also slot into frame 25, no modification should be required on the upper most and lowest frames.
Make sure that the notches face each other as seen below

The frame marked “GD upper” requires a little trim in order to clear the stern frame jig, I just
marked it and ran it through the saw and cut off about 1/16”

the same applies to the frame marked “lower” as It has a slight interference with the upper frame support jig

I did the same here as well, I just trimmed off about 1/16” on the table saw and glued it in place

with all four pieces in I just ran some scrap AYC through the saw to 1/4 x 3/16”. Take a measurement and adjust your saw to cut them at the right angle, then cut to the right length. I cut all 4 the same and they fit right in the slots.


Next I will cover the main frame support that will hold all those pesky frames in place while I build all the gun ports and plank the upper parts of the model.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
JJ
 

I am catching up with you all but as mine is a static build, I obviously don’t have the waterproofing and ballasting issues.  As I mentioned before I am a relative novice builder and this is my first non-timber finished hull.  I found the Eze-Kote an excellent way of getting a smooth finish, albeit not one I had to make watertight.  As also previously mentioned, this is not a kit for a beginner and is a bit like being given a box full of unlabelled parts and picture of a clock and being tasked with building a time piece.  That said it is a well made kit, with high quality parts and I am actually liking the challenge.  The helpful advice on this build log has been excellent.  Thanks - I am sure I will need more help going forward.  

Foremast step is made and installed

Main mast step is being made

Thanks 😊 
 
I've been following along with interest but have not been well recently. Lots to give thanks for, though, so I shall just wait patiently until it's time to pick up these threads again. The boats are patient, thankfully.

Thanks 😊 
 
I've been following along with interest but have not been well recently. Lots to give thanks for, though, so I shall just wait patiently until it's time to pick up these threads again. The boats are patient, thankfully.

Very nicely done. Thanks for sharing.

I've reached a milestone - the hull is closed up. I've also cut out the beams where the deck opening is to give space to access the motor, rudder servo, battery, etc... 
 
 



Thanks for looking in, for the likes, and the encouragement
 
Rob

With the help of some of the planking pins, I glued the deck down. Once the glue was in place, I placed the deck, and the Aliphatic glue (Carpenter's glue) gave me enough time to predrill holes for planking pins, and secure the deck to make sure it was well in contact with all of the deck beams. Clamps were used round the inside of the deck opening.
 


 
I left it overnight to set, and then pulled the pins back out with some needlenose pliers... nice and easy. 
 

And here's a different shot showing something of her lines...
 

Thanks to those who've looked in  
 
 

Hi guys, 
 
thanks for the all encouragement. Considering point A and B, I knew what to do first! Fix those legs. I used a 0.3mm copper wire pin through a 0.5mm hole, in order to avoid pushing too hard on those tiny legs. This time around, I enlarged one hole to 0.6mm, so I could insert the pin easily in that one. I then used my tweezers on both sides of the hinge to push the pin through. This way the pin is really squeezed in the remaining 0.5mm holes and stuck, even without glue. 
It wasn't what I call a walk in the park, but at least it went better. Some remaining issues though. 1 is the starboard aft leg is twisted, you can see the foot pointing sideways. the reason is of course the dangly-leg-syndrome. Since the legs rotate when bent, they are rotated when deploying as well. I thought it would be easy to fix that, but somehow it really doesn't want to rotate anymore. Of course it doesn't help that the vessel is still not fixed, on the other side, once it is fixed, the leg is difficult to reach, since the front leg is in the way... 
Another issue appears to be the accomodation. It went on quite well, going in sideways, turning around onside the bottle, but then it seemed like it didn't really sit down on the hull, the glue didn't catch either. So I'll have to remove it again and fix in back once the ship is fixed inside. 
The bottom isn't really flat with all the sand and edges, so she's quite prone to topple over when moving around inside the bottle. 
 
In the end, she's at least inside that bottle. This time there is no real way back except breaking the bottle... 

You can find it here... hope it's helpful. Any questions, just ask.
 
https://modelshipworld.com/topic/26538-free-picture-resizer-application-i-programmed-to-solve-those-image-rotation-woes-microsoft-windows-10-and-11-only/

It could simply be because the lens on mobile phones are so wide angle. If the object is not in the centre of the shot they will have a curve to them. The solution can be to take the photo from slightly further away and zoom in a little. Then the subject will be further in towards the centre of the shot and will be straighter in the image. I've tried to put examples below...
 
The first is taken at full frame (zoomed right out). This gives the biggest file, but as you'll see from the straight yellow line i added afterwards, the edges of the image are warped... making the ruler bend.
 

 
The second image was taken from about three times further away but using the camera zoom to get closer. The image quality is not so good as the lighting in my kitchen is pretty poor, but the phone effectively takes a full photo then cuts off the edges... that means that the ruler is effectively closer to the centre of the frame and the distortion is reduced... as below...
 

 
Again the yellow line was added afterwards in a graphics programme.
 
Hope that helps explain what is probably happening.
 
Rob

The planking continues on the Billings St. Roch.

Hi Dunnock,
 
Those are looking great! She has teeth now! The walnut(?) carriage parts in my kit of Diana was really flaky, and hard to get a crisp edge with, but you seem to have done an excellent job. The poppy seed is ingenious, too.
 
The monograms for the guns can be bought separately from Chuck's Syren Model Ship Company, here.
 
https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com/laser-cut-ship-model-fittings.php#!/Monograms-English-1750-1820-for-brass-cannon-3-sizes-90-per-pack/p/58972038/category=5764789
 
I can highly recommend Chuck's carriages, too but you will find that the height of the assembled guns ends up being different (a little taller) than the provided carriages, which can make lining them up in the ports a little more interesting. I guess that's not such an issue on the quarter deck / fore deck. I would recommend working out the heights one by one as you fit them, then fixing the quoins in position, having sighted along the row of barrels to ensure you get a really nice sweep. Definitely one of the show-pieces of these models!
 
Rob
 

You can find it here... hope it's helpful. Any questions, just ask.
 
https://modelshipworld.com/topic/26538-free-picture-resizer-application-i-programmed-to-solve-those-image-rotation-woes-microsoft-windows-10-and-11-only/

Hi Kevin,
 
This is a lovely, welcoming and helpful community. I could not have done half the builds I've done without the support I've found here. Good to have you here.
 
Do consider starting a build log and showing people where you're up to. You'll get more input that way and it will provide a place to ask any questions you might have and get those answers
 
Rob

I hope that I'm not stepping out of line here but Rob Durant @robdurant produced a programme called Picture Resizer and added a link to download on his log for HMS Diana built as Ethalion. I've used it for all my log pictures. It's simple to use and with a setting of 600 for the width, it works every time.
 
David