With the hull waterproofed and the weather kind I couldn't resist popping it on the pool to see the boat on the water.
It floated well. In fact I think I'll need to add ballast to get it down to the waterline. Even the steam plant isn't likely to do the job on its own as the broad beamed hull is very buoyant.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sanding sealer
Maaaaaaaaan you gotta love sanding sealer.
Since this is a working model, all the wood needs to be protected from water. The best way (IMHO) to do this is with several coats of sanding sealer. As I understand it, this is a cellulose dope with some sort of thickener mixed in. Whatever the recipe, you brush it on and it seals the wood. Do this in a confined space and you are so happy you simply don't care how it works...
4 coats with a sanding between each were enough to transform the feel of the balsa wood. I love the way it becomes a hard and smooth surface instead of the soft and slightly rough one. Drying time is measured in minutes, sometimes seconds, on a hot day so the process doesn't take long.
To tidy up the joints I used plastic wood between coats. This is horrible as the filler is much harder than the wood so sanding is harder as you wear away the surrounding surface before tidying the joint. In the end I used a coarse file as it was possible to localise the sanding to just the filler.
Since this is a working model, all the wood needs to be protected from water. The best way (IMHO) to do this is with several coats of sanding sealer. As I understand it, this is a cellulose dope with some sort of thickener mixed in. Whatever the recipe, you brush it on and it seals the wood. Do this in a confined space and you are so happy you simply don't care how it works...
4 coats with a sanding between each were enough to transform the feel of the balsa wood. I love the way it becomes a hard and smooth surface instead of the soft and slightly rough one. Drying time is measured in minutes, sometimes seconds, on a hot day so the process doesn't take long.
To tidy up the joints I used plastic wood between coats. This is horrible as the filler is much harder than the wood so sanding is harder as you wear away the surrounding surface before tidying the joint. In the end I used a coarse file as it was possible to localise the sanding to just the filler.
Solid nose
There's not much to say about filling in the bow of the launch. All I had to do was glue some wood in place and carve it to shape - model boaters have done this for years.
Getting the right wood needed a bit of experimentation - the first choice, basswood, was too hard to carve in block form. Balsa worked very well.
To shape it I first shopped the block with a saw to get a rough shape. The wood was then stuck in place. Once dry, the first shaping came from a surform which quickly removed big chunks of wood. Then a coarse sandpaper and finally a polish with the fine stuff. With lots of guides from the 3 fixed sides this was a whole lot easier than I'd expected it to be.
Getting the right wood needed a bit of experimentation - the first choice, basswood, was too hard to carve in block form. Balsa worked very well.
To shape it I first shopped the block with a saw to get a rough shape. The wood was then stuck in place. Once dry, the first shaping came from a surform which quickly removed big chunks of wood. Then a coarse sandpaper and finally a polish with the fine stuff. With lots of guides from the 3 fixed sides this was a whole lot easier than I'd expected it to be.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tracklaying on the Welsh Highland
Blimey, this looks like a lot of work. The workers in the photos are track laying on the Porthmadog end of the Welsh Highland Railway. Apparently Austrian engineers had to be brought in for this as no-one in the UK could build the tramway section of the line being worked on here.
For modellers there are two good points:
First, our track is a whole lot easier to lay.
Second, there will soon for a prototype for running Garratts on a tramway. (Incidentally, I have a hankering to build at least one of the Backwoods kits so if you want one, let me know !) Hooray !
For more on my trip around Wales, go here.
For modellers there are two good points:
First, our track is a whole lot easier to lay.
Second, there will soon for a prototype for running Garratts on a tramway. (Incidentally, I have a hankering to build at least one of the Backwoods kits so if you want one, let me know !) Hooray !
For more on my trip around Wales, go here.
Planked bottom
Once the sides of the launch are planked the much curvier bottom has to be covered. In theory you simply affix the die-cut balsa wood parts. The instructions advise using tape to hold the box part in place, spraying the outside with "Windex" if required.
In the UK, Windex isn't available but at a guess it will be a window cleaning solution which contains ammonia - a chemical known for softening wood although I think alcohol will work as well. I can't stand the spell of ammonia and didn't have anything similar handy so I soaked the wood in water. This made no difference, just wet wood.
Most of the part fitted very well. I fixed it along the keel line and down the sides, holding the springy balsa with planking clamps screwed into the basswood parts. The front would have fitted except that when I bent it, the wood split along the grain.
Repairing the split was out of the questions, a glue joint wouldn't hold and a braced part wouldn't bend, so I had two options, re-make the part in another sheet of wood or cut off the bow part and replace it with a solid block carved to shape. Well without a suitable sized sheet of wood handy I went for the second option. The die cut part on both sides now finishes at the end of the keel strip.
Other than that this went well. The sheet overlaps the sides but will be easy to trim back. At the stern I need to do a bit of filling but can use offcuts of balsa for this. The clamps worked well, in fact I don't know how you could do this operation without them as conventional clips won't hold and the wood is being bent in lots of directions at once. Perhaps using superglue you could tack it in place a bit at a time but I prefer alphatic resin - there's something wrong to me about using superglue on wood.
In the UK, Windex isn't available but at a guess it will be a window cleaning solution which contains ammonia - a chemical known for softening wood although I think alcohol will work as well. I can't stand the spell of ammonia and didn't have anything similar handy so I soaked the wood in water. This made no difference, just wet wood.
Most of the part fitted very well. I fixed it along the keel line and down the sides, holding the springy balsa with planking clamps screwed into the basswood parts. The front would have fitted except that when I bent it, the wood split along the grain.
Repairing the split was out of the questions, a glue joint wouldn't hold and a braced part wouldn't bend, so I had two options, re-make the part in another sheet of wood or cut off the bow part and replace it with a solid block carved to shape. Well without a suitable sized sheet of wood handy I went for the second option. The die cut part on both sides now finishes at the end of the keel strip.
Other than that this went well. The sheet overlaps the sides but will be easy to trim back. At the stern I need to do a bit of filling but can use offcuts of balsa for this. The clamps worked well, in fact I don't know how you could do this operation without them as conventional clips won't hold and the wood is being bent in lots of directions at once. Perhaps using superglue you could tack it in place a bit at a time but I prefer alphatic resin - there's something wrong to me about using superglue on wood.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Planking the launch
This bit's nice. Cut up some balsa and stick it to the edge of the deck and rail. Big bits for the front and sides, little bits around the back where the curve is tighter - as you can see in the photo. This is proper traditional model boat construction as practised through the centuries. I can almost feel the hand of history on my shoulder...
Fantail launches
A quick "Google" for Fantail launch throws up some useful results. I'm unsurprisingly not the only person to have built this kit, nor the only one to have posted stuff on the web about it.
Roly Williams model has had some changes made to the boiler.
Mooseman made a video of his first launch launch.
Roly Williams model has had some changes made to the boiler.
Mooseman made a video of his first launch launch.
3 clamps
I'm sure there is a batter way of doing this but I don't know what it is. Perhaps other boat modellers can advise me.
To get the chine rail stuck to the bow I had to use one clamp to bring the rails on each side. This kept springing off so a sash clamp on the back hooked over a former stops this happening. But this clamp keeps falling over and twisting the first one off so a third clamp holds the sash in place.
Looks unwieldy but worked surprisingly well !
To get the chine rail stuck to the bow I had to use one clamp to bring the rails on each side. This kept springing off so a sash clamp on the back hooked over a former stops this happening. But this clamp keeps falling over and twisting the first one off so a third clamp holds the sash in place.
Looks unwieldy but worked surprisingly well !
Monday, July 28, 2008
Chine rail
The chine rail is a piece of basswood that simply glues into the slots left in the frames. The front end has to be champfered and you get to hang on to 6 inches or so of excess material. Other than that, with plenty of clamps it's a easy job.
Once in place the rail section has to be sanded to remove the outside corner. With basswood (UK=Lime I think) this is really easy to do as the wood works so well. Bit dustier than I expected but otherwise fine.
Once in place the rail section has to be sanded to remove the outside corner. With basswood (UK=Lime I think) this is really easy to do as the wood works so well. Bit dustier than I expected but otherwise fine.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Harbour Masters Launch
Looking at these pictures I took of the harbormasters launch (the boat at the back of the pair) at Porthmadoc, I wondered if a model could be built from the same George Turner kit I used for Tomsk ?
You might need to buy two kits and splice them together for some extra length but at a tenner a kit this wouldn't be too painful. The back needs removing to allow the winch to swing but none of this should be beyond the average modellers ability.I don't have the time for this project but if anyone does have a go then let me know.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Deck fitted
I was sceptical about this bit. The deck didn't seemed very flexible yet was going to have to take quite a bend if it was to fit on the framework. I dry-ran this several times before being happy - the back end needs to hang over the rudder tube, then the bow is held against the keel. Finally the deck is pushes down in place and seems to fit.Then the joints are glued and the process carried out all over again. This time with stickiness.
Eshewing superglue for PVA I needed to clamp the main parts together. The shape of the model at this stage makes this tricky but some trigger clamps achieved it eventually. I've no idea why I own so many - but this time I'm glad I do !
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Porthmadog Model shops
An embarrassment of riches here - first up is Porthmadog Models in Bank Place. Deceptively large, the shop specialises in plastic kits. Most are military models with a smattering of cars and boats. To assemble them, a full range of paints and glues are tucked at the back of the premises.Along the sides are cabinets full of painted military diecasts. Above these are groundworks for those who engage in role playing games.
Update: Porthmadog Models have moved. More details here.
Railway modellers are advised to try both of the stations belonging to the preserved railways. At one end of town the Welsh Highland Railway is home to one of the best bookshops in the country. Nearly 40 feet of wall is devoted to a breathtaking range covering UK and foreign lines. Special sections exist for narrow gauge fans too.Should this tempt you to some modelling then most of the Parkside Dundas range, both standard and narrow gauge can be found on another wall.
For larger scales the Ffestiniog station has a small selection of kits. Dig deep though as we are talking about the 16mm scale Slaters range along with 016.5 and 009 whitemetal kits. They even have the chassis required for these, something a lot of traders can't always manage !
Finally for the RTR fan, Craft Cymru, an otherwise unremarkable souvenir shop aimed at the passing tourist, stocks a good range of Hornby items. Rolling stock and track are there along with Scaledale buildings and vehicles. You need to work your way to the back of the shop past ceramic dragons and mass-produced loving spoons but they are there.Four shops in one town - not bad !
More trimming
Before the deck can be fitted, some dry runs are advised in the instruction. A very sensible move.The cross pieces need to be trimmed a bit as the deck won't sit on them without it. Around 4mm extra width needs to be allowed for - easily accomplished with a razor saw and sandpaper. As always "Measure twice. Cut once" applies, or at least it did for me. The first attempt at marking the cuts required, I was all over the place. Some days you begin to think the markings on the steel rule are actually moving between uses...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Why didn't they use one bit of wood ?
Sometimes you wish a kit cost more. If the Fantail launch price had been a bit higher, perhaps the deck could have been made out of one bit of wood instead of two halves that have to be joined ?Or at least the die cutter for the straight edges along the join could have been straight ? As it is these are convex and have to be sanded flat to get any sort of glue to hold it. Fortunately I plan on planking the top so any iffy work will disappear eventually.
I used Alphatic resin to stick the two bits of wood together. Then, because the next stage puts quite a lot of strain on it, braced the join with a couple of very thin bits of balsa super-glued in place.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Double Fairlie
I'm in sunny Wales for a few days. Hopefully I'm going to catch myself a Garratt. But first I found a Double Fairlie while sitting on the station writing a postcard. Since I'm not going to be doing any modelling for the next few days (don't worry there will still be updates on the blog for the Fantail Launch) I thought you might like a picture of a steam engine.
Bending wood
The keel was to have a "keel strip" run along it following the curve of the bottom of the boat. This meant a new technique for me - soaking wood to make it more flexible.The wood to be bent was 1/8th inch square basswood. Bendy but not bendy enough in its natural state. The instructions just said to soak it but gave no more details. As the strip was 2 feet long the only place it was going to get soaked was in the bath. A couple of centimetres of water gave enough of a puddle so I chucked the first stick in.
Ten minutes later and the wood colour had darkened which I assumed ment it was wet enough. Taking it out I was shocked how flexible it was - you really could put a significant bend in it, much more than I needed for this job. I know I shouldn't have been surprised, this is a well established technique in use for thousands of years - but I'm a literal sort of person and need to see results with my own eyes.
Anyway, the first few cm of the strip was stuck in place with superglue. Once this held, a matter of moments, the rest went in with a combination of alphatic resin and Zap. Clamps held it in place while the glue grabbed. I waited for the wood to return to it's pre-wetted colour before removing them. Again I was surprised not to see the strip uncurl from the keel but it all worked. The excess was chopped off and kept as it had returned to its original shape.
Then I did the whole lot again on the other side.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Building the keel
The Fantail launches keel is a complicated component made up of 3 wooden parts sandwiched around a couple of brass tubes for rudder and drive shaft.
The instructions say you should cover the full size plan with plastic on a board and pin the parts to this while gluing. To me that's a recipe for bits stuck to a plan. I decided to clamp the bits with bulldog clips while the glue dried. This worked well - the keel is straight and not stuck to anything it shouldn't be. OK the process might take longer as you have to work a tube at a time but with quick set Araldite this isn't a big problem.
The instructions say you should cover the full size plan with plastic on a board and pin the parts to this while gluing. To me that's a recipe for bits stuck to a plan. I decided to clamp the bits with bulldog clips while the glue dried. This worked well - the keel is straight and not stuck to anything it shouldn't be. OK the process might take longer as you have to work a tube at a time but with quick set Araldite this isn't a big problem.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Barclay Crank
The 7mm scale crank axle owes a lot to the design of the same part in the 4mm locomotive. Rather than try to get a casting that is accurate enough to do the job, it's made up of a series of laminated etched bits and fitted to a Romford axle.
In the smaller scale this works very well. In 7mm it is nigh on perfect. Lots of parts are provided on the etch to allow for different wheels. I'm using Slaters so 4 of the common etches plus the three detail parts for the face are enough. The result is amazing, and I've build several OO & HO versions. The grub screw ends up flush with the face of the crank and there is no wobble.
Assembly is easy, just fit the first four lamination's to the axle to keep them in line. Run solder around the edge. Then add the three detail layers and run more solder. A quick clean up does the job. Holes are marked for the crank pin which have to be drilled out. The bolt is then screwed in from the back in the same way as it is on the wheels.
In the smaller scale this works very well. In 7mm it is nigh on perfect. Lots of parts are provided on the etch to allow for different wheels. I'm using Slaters so 4 of the common etches plus the three detail parts for the face are enough. The result is amazing, and I've build several OO & HO versions. The grub screw ends up flush with the face of the crank and there is no wobble.
Assembly is easy, just fit the first four lamination's to the axle to keep them in line. Run solder around the edge. Then add the three detail layers and run more solder. A quick clean up does the job. Holes are marked for the crank pin which have to be drilled out. The bolt is then screwed in from the back in the same way as it is on the wheels.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
7mm WD Barclay
Ever since the Barclay diesel locomotive came out in 4mm scale, people have said that it would make an excellent O gauge model. Well, Trevor is bowing to customer demand and I'm now hard at work test building the 7mm scale version.
So far, so good. The chassis, which is etched in thickish nickel silver, has been assembled. Bearings needed a touch of the reamer in the holes to allow them to slot in - exactly as they should. I fitted the crank axle bearing inside out as I've done on the OO and HO versions. Not sure if this will be necessary here but this IS a test build, so that's what I need to find out.
So far, so good. The chassis, which is etched in thickish nickel silver, has been assembled. Bearings needed a touch of the reamer in the holes to allow them to slot in - exactly as they should. I fitted the crank axle bearing inside out as I've done on the OO and HO versions. Not sure if this will be necessary here but this IS a test build, so that's what I need to find out.
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