WELL…..

its build or BUST, now!

Just ordered £200 quids worth of grp resin, gelcoat and chop strand matting from CFS Glass fibre supplies of Cornwall.

Been ordering form them for at least 10 years…….very very good service.

And that was with 10% discount……who says modelling is a cheap hobby……hahahaaa.

The last time i ordered the same amount about 6 years ago, it was just less than half that price from Glasplies in Southport………sadly bought out and shut down trading for some gawd knows reason.

SO!!!, The Dolphin Glaze has been skimmed on to both sides of the hull…

Been miserable weather today outside and so did a few things inside hoping it would clear up, but it didn't.

And as such I put off the spraying of a light coat of matt black onto the hull until this evening.

Tomorrow I'll get some abrasive paper and sand that lot all down, removing the black paint from all the high spots, leaving hopefully just a few very small black sunken areas, to refill with some more dolphin glaze and more sanding to finish the hull by Wednesday at the latest.

Now the experiment and the fun starts!

Have been contemplating how to line the tunnels for the propellors and tubes.

Whilst up in Scotland earlier last week delivering a model to a new owne i was driving down the "coast road" from Glasgow to Largs along the very pretty coastal road along side the River Clyde, famous for its shipyards producing such vessels as the Queen Mary and the Queen Elisabeth 2, and I looked out over the Clydewith lovely memories of visiting a town called Dunbarton.

There in Dunbarton are the large testing tanks for testing models of ships to be built.
And it was there that I got the idea of what to use.

Whilst on a visit to the tanks I saw some ships hulls made from hollowed out huge lumps of bee's wax, and this gave me the idea.

Although I don't have any wax, I do have modellers grade plasticine, a harder grade than childrens plasticine, and it was that which I have used to skim the aluminium mesh laid down and glued earlier.

Once it has gone hard, tomorrow I will skim it with Dolphin Glaze filler.

the plasticine in the propellor tunnels has now been given 2 layers of Dolphin Glaze.

And this time rather than using a spatula to put the filler on, it has the ability because it is so runny, to be brushed on with a decoraters paint brush.

Also, the brush can be cleaned of all residue with cellulose thinners………a bonus.

It's been like christmas the last few days, with boxes of goodies turning up on my doorstep.

Firstly 40kg of fibre glass resin, gelcoat and chop strand matting………..how to spend £200 quid quickly. plus a gallon of cellulose thinners, from a local car factors shop

Then, yesterday came my silicon rubber 5kg for moulding the fittings for the Princess Mary of Padstow.

Finally this morning came the 5 kg of polyurethane quick set resin for producing the fittings. About £370 quids worth in total

Casting moulds for resin fittings:

Nothing simpler really than doing your own fittings as long as you prepar the scene first, and go about it methodically.

Once the fitting is made, cleaned up and mounted in or on plasticine in a box, there should be no ploblem or "scary bits"

And this was what i did this morning.

Items needed:……mixing "bowls", spatula for scraping out the remains in the bowl, mixing stick…[my choice a knitting neadle], fittings [of course], a glass of water, rubber and hardener, and most importantly!, a release agent, as the rubber will stick to almost anything.

Now!, I used to buy a spray on, none silicon release agent from Tiranti's of Reading until one day one of the technical guys told me that they could no longer send spray release agent out in the post, and was collect only.

"What can I use then,"……

"easy" the techy said, "you can use vasiline/petroleum jelly, just rub it on with your finger or a small soft paint brush, or you can even paint on some ordinary cooking vegitable oil………..both work great"

And they did and still do!

The water was also a mystery to start with, as this type of rubber hardens quicker so the instructions say if it can set with an ambiant moisture content in the air, like in an airing cupboard, but my ex went balistic when i tried the first and only time………Not only did the cloths and towels smell of rubber, but i think the last straw was that i couldn't get the rubber out of a wooly jumper that had dripped on to it…….

So back to the teckies, and they said add a mix of a tea spoon of water into the resin/hardener, and that takes care of the moisture in the atmosphere…….no more ruined or smelly cloths, lol.

the rest is plain sailing, just mix to the recommended quantities as sent out in the sales label, add water…..give a great deal of thorough mixing and pour into the moulds…….but dont add too much hardener/catylist or you might end up with just a block of rubber in your bowl.

However if this ever does happen……….keep the block, cut it up into very small pieces and add a little into the top of a mix next time you have some big moulds to do to bulk out the content of rubber……..that works as well.

And so, having set the fittings into the boxes the rubber was poured, but you will note that in the box for the anchor windless, only half the large fitting is covered…….this is because if you are ,as i did mount the base flat surface on to flat plasticine, it can have a tendency to "float" up into the rubber whilst the rubber is cgoing off…..so once the rubber is set in this mould i will then mix a little more and pour on top of the original……the second layer WILL BOND with the first layer as no release agent will get between these two layers.

Just my own method , but for those for those who, like me would find "making my fittings " in graphics for a printer to do the job…….find this an infinitely more enjoyable way of making my fittings……..

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 08/09/2022 10:04:21

Was out this morning with my daughter in a local historic city, which our late Queen Elizabeth 11 was the Duke of the parish as the Duke of Lancaster, from which the city got its name.

It was fitting to take a walk through the City and then down the canal that runs through the city to a lovely canal side restaurant, and pub, where we had lunch.

Such a tranquil place and somewhere to sit, think of our lovely Queen and all she meant to the country and the world, when as though by magic, the bird of Royalty came sailing by with her mate, and 7 offspring……to set the scene.

After all, the Swan in the UK is a protected bird of the Crown……and I just found it a very peaceful tranquil scene to share with you all. .

Did some detailing to the anchor windlass today as I cant get out in the jungle of a garden to sand the hull of my Barnett as its raining again.

Put the capstans on, the rope storing deck covers, controls and end bearings for the main shaft on to the front and rear extremities

IT'S BRIGHT AND SUNNY………..YIPPEEE.And so, not a moment to waste…..I've donned my 20 factor face mask, and if I catch the dock and make her keep it on would put one on her too, lol

Out with the sander on 80 grit to begin with as Lord Leiutenant of North Wales Dave Stavros Jones told me…….

And a sanding I did go.

And after about 40 minutes one side was done initionally, and i think i did pretty good with my filling with Dolphin Glaze as there were only two small areas that still showed low spots marked by the black paint sprayed on to mark low spots.

So these hav been reskimmed and will be sanded down later once the other side has been sanded.

but for now my back is aching as well as my arthritic shoulders, and so will have a 30 minute brew break, and then back on to the other side.