Atlantic 21 class lifeboat rib

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

i have built a couple of these in the past from virgin kits, and have also restored and rescued a couple of badly damaged ones that would have probably gone to the tip, some years ago before they became rare and collctable.

first coupe of pictures show one i rescued and restored.

the following ones are from a fully built one that i swapped for a set of mouldings for a modern Tamar kit on friday in Windermere.

it had been well made by the young gentleman, but because of lockdown, he couldn't get hold of any plastic weld glues and had to use cyano acrylate………and this becomes hard and brittle after a while. In the end the seams of the sponsons were opening up, and so i decided to strip it down to basic componants, use plastic weld glue, and rebuild it as the first ever Atlantic 21, the RNLI B-1

And so last night and the previous day i stripped it down.

and the one i picked up on Friday.

and then i made a new sub deck of 1mm plastic card so that the new wooden deck as on the original boat contained.

and finally, this is the boat, slightly different to the production line, that i shall model.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

building a Lesro Atlantic kit

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well done Neil for rescuing a couple of nice kits!

Rather than use Cyano, couldnt one use ordinary styrene cement a-la Airfix kits? I would have thought that would have been easier to get…or is it not suitable?

Ashley

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Neil mentioned that he used plastic weld glue, which is basically the same as Airfix Cement, and Revel Contacta and Tamiya Liquid Cement, Plastic Magic etc…..

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

yes guys.

i use this glue from a company in London called EMA Models, and if i were to buy it as a single bottle containing 57ml it would cost anything betweed £3.75 – £5.95 on ebay, but i order a box full of a dozen bottles at a time and that cost me just under £2.50 a bottle, which is quite a saving.

it is liquid and i paint it on with a thin artist brush and it grabs almost instantly to the other plastic piece.

i have also used it to glue plastic to obeche timber with a good coating to melt the surface of the plastic before attaching to the wood………..adheres very well, as good as epoxy which goes brittle after a time.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I was specifically wondering if the cyano chap could have sourced styrene cement easier.

EMA used to be 10 mins drive from us but then they moved to west or north London and are not worth trying to drive to now. Damn it all!

Ash

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

they do mail order Ashley at very reasonable rates.

the "chap" was a young 15 year old lad when he built this, and stuck up in the wilds of Cumbria during covid had little else to use but cyano from the local shop.

his modelling in those last two years, as this was one of his first models, has come on amazingly and the model he sailed at Windermere when i met him and his grand parents was amazing quality……

he will be a future class winner,and also he joined the RNLI Iown town as a junior, and hopes to join the crew when he finishes his college course in Cheshire in 3 years…….he is a young man that will go far.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

changing back to the Atlantic 21, and fitting the deck.

i took the old deck and used it as a template for a new plasticard deck. I then used this new deck to mark out one from 1.2mm mahogany.

these two decks were to be glued together and so rang my mate Dave Stavros Jones to ask if Evostik contact adhesiv would be ok, and although the consensus was yes, but then Dave suggested 2 sided tape, and i agreed, so tried it.

Unfortunately, the tape wouldn't stick to the ply, and so i reverted back to Evostik which did.

Once glued together i marked out the access hatch and before fitting to the sponsons i cut through the mahogany layer and partly through the plasticard deck to make it easy once glued in place.

the final job tonight was to glue the deck into the sponsons, using plastic weld glue, it glue plastic to plastic, which was left to set before reinforcing the joints on the underside with 10mm wide strips of plasticard, bonding the deck and the sponsons even more.

the whole structure has now been left to set firmly.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

with a couple of cross strengtheners to keep the deck ftom flexing have been added,

and the access hatch now fits well.

and this is definately the last job for tonight…..

taped up the hull to the sponsons and run some liquid plastic weld town the seam…….this stuff is so thin, as a liquid it will by capilliary attraction seep up into the join between sponsons and hull, and by tomorrow be rock solid

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

This afternoon after taking the masking tape off the boat to check that the hull and sponsons ha glued properly, giving the boat some rigidity I made the main seating, which is different to that fitted to the production 21's.

Rather than the helmsman sitting in front of the two other crewmen [sat side by side behind] on the prototype and first prototype/production boat, all three crewmen sat in tandem, behind the helmsman, and so I had to make a new centre pod.

I also made the transome that on which hangs the top bracket for the outboards.

The outboards will act as rudders, and so like on my other 21, it will be steared from inside the hull by mini servo. But this time instead of aeroplane snakes fitted to my other 21 i am going to use nylon string using fishermans swivel clips to turn the outboards.

Hence hiding then to run through the white plastic "tunnel into the seating pod and to the servo inside the hull.

Finally I rescued the helmsmans seat from Andrew Cowling's boat but damaged it removing from the original pod and so have pannelled it with 0.25mm plasticard. Once trimmed off and sanded I am going to make a mould for it so I can cast it in resin for this and my unbuilt 21 kit.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

After cutting out the access hole hitten beneath the seatng pod, I decided this evening to make the combing from ply as it was easily obtainable, instead of plasticard, as the birch ply would be gluing against both timber AND plasticard, which ALIPHATIC resin will adhere to………..so tha was that.

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[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Combing strengthened at the corners,and sanded smooth.

the seat pod fits snuggly

and the channeling has been finished so that the fixed part joining to the transom, and the part that s fixed to the removeable deck slide into each other making a watertight connection has been completedn, whilst enabling the seat pod to be lifted off its combing without disturbibg the link.

Another job done.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

done a few jobs to the boat over the past few days, and not in any order, i'll start with a job i did this afternoon.

Making the transom strengthening plate, for the outboard motor brackets to hang on to.

all parts including the outboard brackets were made from 1.5 and 2mm plasicard, glued together with EMA plastic weld and glued to the existing transom, which was also made from plastic card..

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

another job, using some parts from the old parts, and plasticard, i fabricated a new seating pod.

the difference between ti one on the B-1 prototype boat and the production boats is that the 3 man crew sat in line , in tandem, rather than on the production boats where the helmsman sat in the single seat up front with the other two crew sat side by side behind him.

also there are differences in the shape of the foreward consol and the ones in the kit. incedentally there are two versions of the vac formed seating in the early and later kits when Duplex took over the kit manufactue, and just as an insite into these pods, mine is shown with the two vac formed seating pods from diferent aged kits……interesting to some, probably benall to others,

and also, on th prototype, no radar screen, only basic intruments, yet to be added, and no rope drums fore or stern of the seating pod……very basic boat which of course, modifications to the production boats were made over a period of time.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Lastly and now up to date, I have put the helmsmans seat and a pair of oars into Lego mould boxes and held in with plasticine, ready for moulding in silicon rubber tomorrow…. .

ALL this work is because i am now at a stand still until i get the hull of my Liverpool lifeboat back from Dave Stavros Jones and her paint job.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Just a question Neil, if you are going to make a pair of oars to use as a pattern for a mould so you can cast another pair, is casting additional ones easier than simply making some more in the same way as you made the original patterns?

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

PM sent Richard.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

started spraying my Atlantic 21 last night with filler primer from halfords.

had rubbed down the existing paint to almost bare with various decreasing grit courseness, and then applied the rattle can…….

heating was on in the garage, but when i went back about an hour later, found the paint had crinkled and orange peeled…..BUMMER!!!!

So rubbed it down last night and then a thin layer of Dolphin glase filler.

This was left until just after lunch this afternoon, before sanding it down with 200 grade paper.

Finally i resprayed it this afternoon in 4 seperate very thin coats, of just a whisper of paint each time.

this time, no problems.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

first light coats of Volkswagan Brilliant Orange colour have gone on to the hull bottom and seat pod for the Atlantic 21.

it needs a couple of more coats to deepen the sheen, but in the meantime once the bottom has gone off in an hour or so, i will spray the sponson tops with orange so that they will be the "flash" down the sides to put on the R.N.L.I. and B-1,

then all parts orange will be masked off with low tack tape whilst the rest of the boat is sprayed with grey primer to give the matt finish of rubber sponsons…..

might take a couple of days between coats and curing to achieve this, but a patient man i have become due to Dave Stavros Jones nagging me and giving me tuition………………

he's not as grumpy as some think………he's really a little pussy cat if truth be known… lol.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

and the top of the sponsons have now had a coat of orange.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

always nice to see a plan come together and paint going on to a model.

this is the seating pod with the rearanged seats going on the pod, and the latter sitting on the wooden deck as on the first ever 21.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Neil, Did you see the RIB that just finished on Ebay for £890.00? Check out Mayhem for the picture.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Posted by Richard Simpson on 13/03/2022 17:47:52:

Neil, Did you see the RIB that just finished on Ebay for £890.00? Check out Mayhem for the picture.

no mate………….but banned from Mayhem so can't see any photos lol………c'este la vie.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

its amazing though just how much they fetch in restored conditions.

problem with them is, that when they were around in the 1980's the glue recommended wasn't up to longevity, and most that were built are either coming up as restorations, or they were just dumped because they fell apart.

the last 3 i built were falling apart restos, but with the modern liquid poly's and plastic weld glues now available, they go together very easily and very strongly and don't fall apart afer 20 years or so, and so should last

i have one in a box completely untouched, so hopefully will build that one in the next year or so….i'll have a little fleet of them then, which will hopefully be a nice display at shows.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

This is the picture from Mayhem:

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