robdurant

Great kit and beautiful trawler. I will be following your build log. My brother has the kit but never started it.
 
Yves

Hello everyone,
Welcome to my new build log for the Nordkap 476 by Billing Boats. I chose this model as my first venture into remote-controlled ships; something I’ve wanted to try for a while. My only previous R/C experience is with an electric plane I built for my brother a few years ago, so this will be my first foray into R/C boating.
I’ve been fortunate to connect with 'robdurant', who has a detailed Nordkap build log here on MSW. He’s been incredibly helpful in guiding me through the process and pointing out the key components needed to fully motorize the vessel.
 
A few particulars:  Built In 1970 in England, Tonnage 185 gross register tonnage, Length overall 40.0 m, Beam 9.30 m, Motor 1000 HP diesel, Engine speed 12-14 knots, Crew 7-8 men, Fishing tackle Drag net (trawl), Fishing area Around Iceland and Greenland, Haul Herrings, cod and trash fish.
 
Length of model 81.5 cm (32"), Beam of model 19.5 cm (7.68"), Height of model 43.0 cm (17")

I guess I was fortunate, because unbeknownst to me when I ordered the kit, it came with a cap and some free extras—a fishing net and even some fish!!


Looking forward to sharing this journey with you all!
 

It's going well! The more complex the designs, the longer these things take.
 
A lot of CAD work, so nothing to show as yet. I can tell you the decal sheet is done and has been delivered, and most of the resin print production is done.
 
It is quite a large and complex kit with many pre cut and pre engraved parts, the latter more than even Indy, and all of this takes time to develop. Once I start cutting my final designs and build it up, for Jim to follow, I can post pics of my final prototype build, but until then, it is all just on CAD, on my PC. This applies also to the photo etched files. I need to complete these at the same time the laser cut designs are more or less cooked, and those are 90% done.
 
Rest assured though, this is all I am working on, although I do get side tracked a lot due to having to produce more stock for current kits....

I've spent a little time working on the stern of Bristol to see how it all shapes up... here's my progress. The stern structure was drawn out from the plans, taking care to note how the balcony and accompanying cabin walls fitted, and then the transom was stretched vertically by a factor of 1/Cos(14.2) to make it fit when it was at an angle.
 
Here's the stretched outline... 
 

 
And the part cut out in two parts and glued back to back - the recessed cornice over the cutout was removed on the outer layer, creating a 3d effect - this will be bevelled as well on the final 1:64 model, but as a proof of concept it works.  It's also confirmed that the upper deck (third down in the photo below) comes too far back, and will interfere with the stern upper counter as it is.

 
Happy building to you all
 
Rob
 
 

Rodurant;  I have have read all of your build log and find it nice. Hope you soon can continue your Stefano.  

I only used the bulkhead construction from the kit and some small parts, rest are from my big scratch boks. 

Behold the stern completed. When creating the windows, I did not cut the 1/16” framing tape down to 1/32”. At the time I did not think it would make much of a difference, but at this scale it does! After the windows were mounted on the ship I added 1/32” x 1/16” wood strips on the top and bottom to create a thinner reveal of the white tape around the windows. This helped. 
 
The knees were created in cherry as shown in the photo. As with many parts of the project, I figured the stern would be easy. I was proved wrong, as I had to make many adjustments to accomplish acceptable results.
 
I am learning not to linger too long on a particular part of the project, only redoing things that look out of place or inconsistent with the rest of the ship. 
Steve

Thanks Chris - that's a great encouragement
 
3. Hull sides and framing
 
So - here start the "noob" questions, and a few more "this seems to be the wrong number" observations.
 
Where the plans show a part thickness to be made up, is that the final thickness, or the thickness of the card that I'm sticking the part to? (see picture below - should part 29 end up as 2mm thick, or as the thickness of part 29 PLUS 2mm card backing? At the moment, I've been sticking the part to 2mm card, although for these parts it seems a little thick.
 

 
I've been adding these parts in - parts 29 through to 32... though it seems that the lines that join the parts (i.e. 31 to 31, 32 to 32, 33 to 33) are not in the right places... or at least, when I came to add them to the hull the two 31 parts were completely different shapes, one of them being too high and pushing the hull sides out too much. I lost track of which was which after a while, but suffice it to say, the taller parts go at bow and stern  (in 29, and 33 positions) - stern (32) slightly taller than bow (29), then the shorter ones go in the centre (32 slightly taller than 31)... I'd suggest making these all up, then lining them up on the table before sticking them all into place. Once done in this way, they don't push the hull sides out of line. Parts 33 seem right.
 

 
As can be seen, I still have two more of these parts to fit (32 and 33 at the stern on the port side...), and then the remainder of the spacers that separate the internal sides from the external hull sides. Before the internal sides go on, I'll also need to line the gun ports.
 
I've left the doors off the cabin walls as they seem a little vulnerable at the moment. They should be simple enough to add in once the hull sides are on.

2. First "planking"
 
This is where the neat cutting out becomes critical - that said, I managed it, and I was pleased with the result...
 
Bending each part carefully, before sticking down makes a huge difference. I started cutting off the tiny tabs at the bottom of each piece as they seemed to only get in the way.

 
One point to note... when you get to the end of this, if you follow the numbering, the next piece is 27... and there's no mention of this piece on the exploded diagram. Looking at it on the paper, it's clearly the gundeck, but that doesn't help you to know whether it should be stuck to card before fixing on to the model. I took the approach that 27a IS attached to 0.5mm card, and it continues the sweep of the deck, so I did... and it helped cover up the complete mess of the false deck I mentioned in the last post.
 
Once in place, the chequered floor of the captain's quarters can be added, and the bulkheads, again each strengthened as per the diagram with thicker card.
 
And this is the progress so far.

So far I'm extremely impressed with the accuracy of the parts - they seem to me to fit beautifully... any discrepancies being entirely my fault and not the model's.
 
That's me up to date, then.

I had a search, but couldn't find any other build logs of this model, so although I feel deeply unqualified, I thought I'd post a build log.
 
This is the first card model I've built - in fact, it is mainly paper, with a laser-cut card frame (ShipYard also do a card version which is 1:72, and much more expensive!). So this won't be a masterclass, but hopefully the surprises and lessons learned as I go will be helpful to someone else following in my footsteps
 
I started this model last year when I went on holiday - my main build is way too big to travel, so this one is more manageable (and a little less anti-social) - it may take me a while to finish, but hopefully I'll get there.
 
I started by assembling the card structure of the ship. The diagrams provided are excellent, and the laser-cutting so good that this was very simple, and with a little care, it went together very nicely. I've read elsewhere that using a little superglue to wick into the extensions at the tops of the bulkheads strengthens them somewhat... I was too slow, and they got pretty mashed up. I'm hoping I'll be able to make up for that later on.
 
So far, I've skinned the lower part of the hull, and started putting the details onto the gundeck.
 
Here's a slightly more in-depth description of what I've learned, and done so far.
 
Basic tools:
Carpenters glue (Aliphatic)
UHU glue (really really useful!)
Pritt stick
Superglue
Lots of sharp xacto blades #11 and a handle
Cutting mat
0.5, 1, 1.5, 2mm card to stick the paper onto where directed. (This was found in my local art supplies shop - I found it really hard to get online)
 
1. Assemble the frame from the laser-cutting.
 
I used Carpenters glue to do this, and lego bricks to check it was all lined up... I think this was probably overkill, because with the deck on, it's pretty rigid, but it was my first attempt so I wanted to make sure it was all perfect. Sandpaper was useful to bevel the frames once put together... the card won't go over them (or have a flat surface to stick to) without this step, so it's pretty crucial. That said, it's pretty quick compared to bevel the frames on wooden models... that means it's even easier to go too far! - I marked the edges of the bulwarks with a marker so I could tell when I was not only reducing one side, but the overall outline of the bulwark.
 

 

 
Once the frame was built, a couple of detail bits get stuck on to the lower deck (a brown sharpie was useful to edge the bits that are cut out to get rid of the white edges and make it look tidy), and then the false deck was then added... I made a mistake here by splurging on carpenters glue thinking that the paper covering would lie flat if only I pushed it down enough... not so much, it seems. It ended up looking horribly bumpy and I thought I'd wrecked the model...  The answer (for me) it turns out is to use UHU, add it to the card, and then use a piece of card to scrape it and make it nice and flat, then add the paper, smoothing it as you go. This ends up in a nice flat surface...  Thankfully, as we'll see, the false deck gets covered over later with a second 0.5mm sheet of card with the real gundeck pattern glued on top of it, so disaster was well and truly averted, and you'd never know I stuffed up now!
Here's the first gun deck - you can't see the bumps, but trust me... they're there!

More later.
 
Rob
 
 
 
 

Most of the parts are just MDF for this first build, as I know this is just to test what I have already done, and a few things will be tweaked, and the hull then thrown away..
 
There are scale deck beams for both the gun deck and upper deck, which will be in 4mm thick pear for the kit. There will be a little detail on the lower deck (although you will not be able to really see it)
 
This will be my first design that does away completely with a ply sub deck. With scale spaced beams, a sub deck isn't really needed, so a 'Floating' laser engraved deck will be included (Or you can discard the supplied deck and plank as you like...)
 
I have also designed the bow so that the gun deck isn't cut off by the forward most bulkheads, as is usually the case, but goes all the way forward. (Including the bow chaser/bridle port being framed) . Am yet to see how well this works out...
 
Overall length will be around 1176mm including the bowsprit and mizzen boom.
 
Oh, and I have my new laser machine arrive a week today!

Awful quality pics, but these show the very first assembly of Surprise - No glue, all dry fitted.

Congratulations. What a beautiful model. Thank you for showing us so much of the process of building her. You have built a model to be very proud of.

A little more progress on the Billing boats St Roch , almost only the masts and rigging to go !

I have a bit of progress to report. That third layer of planking on the ships extended from the keel up to 11 feet above the Base Line (a horizontal reference line for length, height and breadth when designing the vessel). That is also about the level of the top of the black boot topping (water line).
 
In trying to decipher some of the blueprints to see exactly where the top and bottom of the boot topping should be I came up with conflicting results. One drawing shows the top of the boot topping 9 inches above the 10 foot water line (DWL). But another suggested it was actually at the 11 foot water line, at the top of the third level of planking. At 1:48 scale that is a 1/16 inch (1.59 mm) difference, and that would be noticeable.
 

Another issue was the placement of the hull seachests. Several were also at the level 11 feet above the Base Line. So the new planking will need small cutouts where it would cover half of these openings. But these openings should also be a reference for the top of the boot topping.
 
You can see in this photo two of the seachests that are at the 11 foot level. And they are quite clearly at the same level as the top of the boot topping. Several other photos show the same.
 
At 1:48 scale the boot topping is 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) wide. So what I needed to do was draw the top of the boot topping at the level of the seachests and then the bottom the appropriate distance below that.
 
 
OK, now I know where to put the boot topping and the top of the 3rd layer of planking, how was I supposed to mark these lines? In the past I have used some clamps to make a holder for a pencil with the tip the right height above the bench top, and then dragged the assembly over the bench top with the pencil marking the line. But the Cape has a large difference in draft between the bow and stern, so if I placed it with the keel on the bench top the boot topping wouldn't be horizontal.
 
The deck has a lot of sheer, with a short more or less horizontal section over the magtail cable well. I put the hull on a temporary support that I built a while back and used a spirit level to adjust the position in the support frame until a portion of the deck was horizontal as shown in the blueprints. I also checked that several points that were supposed to be equal height above the base line were actually at the same heights with the hull sitting in the support. This put the hull at the proper angle for marking the horizontal boot topping lines.
 
As I said, I have used the pencil in the holder method to mark waterlines in the past, but it always gave me problems on parts of the hull with significant slope or curvature. And the boot topping actually curves far under the stern of the Cape, especially on the bottom of the boot topping.
 
This time to mark the positions of these lines I used a laser level (Bosch GLL50-20) mounted on a tripod. The laser is indifferent to the angles and curvatures of objects, and illuminates a perfectly horizontal line. After checking to be sure the laser line was at the right height both forward and aft, I used a pencil to draw short dash marks about every half inch (12 mm) along the laser line.
 
Then I stretched some masking tape along the dashes, and drew an ink line along the edge of the tape.
 
As you can see in this next photo the upper line runs through the hull seachest openings that are 11 feet above the base line.
 

 
You can also see the significant sheer the vessel has at about midships.
 
The top of the full hull length part of the new planking will start along the upper line of the boot topping and will be planked down to the keel. The five above water parts of the sheathing to protect the hull from objects moving over the side will be planked from the top of the boot topping up to the guard rail along the main deck edge.
 
Because the 1/64 inch (0.016 inch or 0.4 mm) thick planking will be so thin there should be no problems fitting it to the hull, and on the real ship there were cutouts in this sheathing around the seachests, rudder fairing and such so I will not need to change any of the work I have already done. But fitting it over the garboard strake and keel may be interesting.

I have been working on the rudder. It is pretty simple but did require some careful work.
 

 
 
First I cut and glued short pieces of 3/32 inch (2.38 mm) brass tubing into the hole in the hull planks and the hole in the end of the stern frame arm. These serve as bushings for the rudder shaft, and also as reinforcement for the wood in the stern frame arm.
 
The 1/16 inch (1.59 mm) brass rod slip fits into the brass tubing. The rod is the shaft for the rudder to rotate on. After all the work is finished the part at the end that is wrapped in blue tape will be cut off.
 
 
 
 

 
 
The rudder shaft passed through two concentric fairing plates where the shaft opening entered the hull. I cut the two pieces from 0.005 inch (0.127 mm) brass sheet. These were soldered together to make the assembly. The hole in the fairing slipped over the 3/32 inch brass tube and was glued in place with Duco Cement.
 
A thin stainless sheet with a hole slightly larger than the tubing was slipped over the tube. This served as a shield to protect the fairing and hull as the tube was sawed off and the end filed smooth.
 
 
 
 

The rudder was next. Two pieces of 3/32 inch basswood were cut and a groove was filed into each where the rudder shaft should be. They were glued together (Duco Cement) and the glue allowed to harden. Then a series of successively larger drill bits were used to drill out a 3/32 inch hole through the piece.
 
I used a template with the outline of the cross section of the rudder on it to guide sanding the wood into the proper hydrodynamic shape.
 
Then a longer piece of 3/32 inch brass tubing was cut to length to slip fit between the brass bushings in the hull and stern frame. This tube fits through the hole in the rudder and serves as the rudder shaft. But actually the tube just rotates around the 1/16 inch brass rod.
 
 
The tube through the rudder also serves another purpose. It is a tight fit between the bushings in the hull and on the stern frame arm. It will prevent the arm from being bent up and breaking off if it is bumped. Just a bit of insurance!
 
The 3/32 (0.094) inch diameter tube is actually a bit undersized for the scale rudder shaft. It really should be about 0.110 inch (2.79 mm) diameter.  The next larger size brass tubing is 1/8 inch (3.18 mm) and that is a bit oversize. But I think I will cut a short piece to fit over the top end of the rudder shaft and fill the space between the wood and the fairings on the hull.
 

OK, I finally have the 33 (and a bit) foot Royal/Admirals barge/shallop in stock. This main file went through a lot of changes before I was happy with the final print, so now, compared to the first file, this should be a lot easier to add the pear parts.
 
64th scale – length 158.5mm 48th scale – length 211.3mm  
33′ Royal/Admiral’s Barge – VANGUARD MODELS
 
All 3-d printed boats:
https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/?post_type=product&p=17419&preview=true
 
Here are some pics of the 48th scale version that Jim (Hatch) has just completed, he has done a great job! For this one, it will be all about the painting..
 
The base and cradles are included with this one (2mm Pear), as I thought some may want it as a standalone model, and those that would like if for their model ship can use the cradles only if they wish.
 
 

Slow progress on the St Roch again this week .

A little more progress on the St Roch.

Well I haven't stopped to write down much about the rigging, but there are far more capable modellers on this forum who have written excellent guides. I have, however, completed this model, which is something of a triumph! Just eight days short of a year since my journey with encephalitis began, to have recovered to the point where I was able to finish this model is both a personal win, and a great testament to the model that Vanguard Models have made here. Anyway - enough talk. Here are some pictures.

I'm deeply grateful to all those who have been an encouragement and who have spurred me on through this build. And I'm thrilled with the results. I'm marking this one done
 
Rob

Well I haven't stopped to write down much about the rigging, but there are far more capable modellers on this forum who have written excellent guides. I have, however, completed this model, which is something of a triumph! Just eight days short of a year since my journey with encephalitis began, to have recovered to the point where I was able to finish this model is both a personal win, and a great testament to the model that Vanguard Models have made here. Anyway - enough talk. Here are some pictures.

I'm deeply grateful to all those who have been an encouragement and who have spurred me on through this build. And I'm thrilled with the results. I'm marking this one done
 
Rob

What a great achievement Rob, your Erycina looks really good. 

Thank you Bob @Knocklouder and David @dunnock

Well I haven't stopped to write down much about the rigging, but there are far more capable modellers on this forum who have written excellent guides. I have, however, completed this model, which is something of a triumph! Just eight days short of a year since my journey with encephalitis began, to have recovered to the point where I was able to finish this model is both a personal win, and a great testament to the model that Vanguard Models have made here. Anyway - enough talk. Here are some pictures.

I'm deeply grateful to all those who have been an encouragement and who have spurred me on through this build. And I'm thrilled with the results. I'm marking this one done
 
Rob