Eilean Mor

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Thank you very much indeed, Bob! Yes, it would have been great fun had I been able to attend a dedicated model boat show like e.g. Ellesmere, but although it is not technically impossible at all (these days, even when the Continent is cut off by fog in the Channel, there are usually travel options available), fitting what would more or less have to be a long weekend away into an agenda already pretty much full to the brim would be a less easily attainable achievement, I fear … Still: never say never; something of that ilk might yet come to pass; we'll just have to see.

Anyway, the remaining few jobs on this model are the jolly boat, the anchor light and a few minor details here and there; also some of the stuff topside that is as yet only dryftitted shall have to be glued down, but all in all I expect that a few more months should see me through to the end.

After that, the first job on my to-do list is a 1:1 model of a done-up and refurbished living room, but after that I'm sorely tempted to have a go at the Metcalf Mouldings "Moonbeam" — I really and truly like her lines and looks, while it ought to be a project that, given the relative simplicity of the thing, could be finished to a decent standard in an amount of time somewhat shorter than the almost two years I willl in the end have spent on Eilean Mòr.

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

I have continued working, off and on, on the various bits and bobs that still remain, for example the ladder. After airbrushing on a base colour coat of yellow ochre, I drybrushed it with a green colour …

… over several sessions, until the main appearance was that of a thinly painted-on and slightly worn pale green.

The ladder fitted nciely between the quarterdeck port bollards …

… and the port quarterdeck railings.

It sits well enough here that there were no need to glue it down; however, I added a couple of ties between the railing and the ladder, as the ladder would most likely have been thus secured in real life.

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 24/03/2015 08:29:00

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Very nice, Banjo

I don`t wish to be critical, but the deck planks and screws are a bit of a distraction, don`t you think?

They could do with quieting down, somehow?

Is the deck finish varnished?

Dare you risk a scrape?

Bob

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Thank you very much, Bob!

Concerning the deck, even if I'd wanted to do something to tone down the effect (which I must admit I don't, really), it would be very tricky, bordering on the unwise, to try to do such a thing. The deck is long since varnished (five or six coats of satin varnish), and all fittings and most of the superstructures are glued down to it. I would not care to try to break them all free again to have the necessary access to the surface. So no: a scrape or something along those lines are not really on the programme …

I will also say that while the planking seams and dowel ends might seem to stick out a tad in the kind of close up photos that I just posted, when looking at the real thing, I don't find the them distracting at all. On the contrary, I will even admit that I rather like the effect! And as we all know, de gustibus non est disputandum …

/Mattias

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Sorry Banjo

It was only a suggestion

Don't understand the Latin saying, but I can guess!

Bob

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Speaking of things attached to the decsk, with the crew finally painted and most other things on the foredeck sorted, I decided to glue down the outhouse and the companionway shelter.

For a stronger joint, I decided to not only glue them down, but also to give each a couple of tabs set into the deck, tø provide some lateral strength against any unintentional side swipes.

I began by drilling a couple of 0.7 mm holes into the undersides, into which I set cut-off brass nails with just the points sticking out.

By carefully placing the superstructure in the right place and pressing down lightly, the right spots for drilling through the deck were marked out and then drilled.

The holes in the underside of the superstructures were then enlarged to take short lengths of 1.5 mm brass wire, which was CA-glued in place.

The tabs have the added advantage of making sure that there is no even slight misalignment from things sliding on the wet glue when weighted down with sacks of lead shot.

Of course one cannot really see any difference, compared to when they were only dryfitted, but here is the foredeck thus with everything firmly attached.

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 24/03/2015 09:56:54

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Hello again Bob,

No need whatsoever to apologise — any suggestion is always more than welcome! As you may have noticed, I am always happy to discuss and have ne fear of providing my thoughts and arguments for why I have or have not done things in a particular way …

As for the latin (see **LINK**), it is often translated as "there's no accounting for taste", something of which I, as a banjo player, am of course living proof! Eh, wot wot …

Again and as always warmest thanks for your comments!

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 24/03/2015 09:57:09

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

I have also been working on the jolly boat lately. The hull that came with the kit is from GRP, with an outside cast to look like clinker-build. The inside, however, is just rough GRP.

The build instructions suggest filling and sanding the interior smooth before adding cardboard ribs.

However, I decided that it might at least be worth a try to attempt something that would show a clinker-build effect also on the inside of the hull. For starters, I thus added a false inside keel made up from styrene strip …

… and then began adding false strakes from 0.020×0.188 inch styrene strip.

I soon realised, though, that this first attempt would not work: the strips were too thick, and I had not properly considered the curvature of the hull either.

I therefore tore out the first attempt and started over, this time using .010 inch think styrene strip instead.

Given that the clinker overlap on the inside of a hull takes the form of each lower strake overlapping the one above, the false planking had to start at the gunwhales. The top strips were glued in place using epoxy, as this is one of the few glues of which I am aware that will bond to both styrene and GRP.

The reminder of the strakes, however, were glued in with thin Tamiya liquid plastic cement. This of course means that each strake mainly binds only to the previous one, although it was possible to get some bonding to the GRP too, by adding cement to the underside of each strake and pressing down until the sticky, semi-dissolved styrene grabbed at least a little to the hull also.

Once all the strakes were in …

… the inside of the transom was covered with some rolled-out Milliput …

… to create a smoothish effect.

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 24/03/2015 11:01:20

Edited By Banjoman on 24/03/2015 11:02:14

Edited By Banjoman on 24/03/2015 11:03:47

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

That's a good idea, Banjo

Planks on the inside!

I would have fitted a Tarpaulin, myself………..The easy way out!

Bob

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Thanks, Bob!

Yes, I did consider the tarp option, although the really easy way out would of course have been to just stow the dinghy upside down …

In the end, though, I thought that an open boat with some internal detailing would hopefully look nice enough to warrant the effort.

So, with the interior fake planking done, it was time to add fake ribs …

…

… and also the stringers for the thwarts.

I also decided to add a sternpost to the transom, and at the same time used some Milliput to sort out a few miscastings in the after part of the keel

For the time beeing, though, the dinghy has been put to one side, while I'm waiting for some more materials to be delivered …

To be continued …

/Mattias

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Superb work on the dinghy there. That sort of detail really highlights the model.

Colin

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

With basically all of the weightier topside stuff in place, I brought the boat up into the apartment and set her afloat in the bath tub. I found her a little too much down by the stern, and so moved the battery sledge a tad forrards; a little down by the stern is fine by me, as in old photos one often sees even laden Puffers under way looking like that, but I don't want to overdo the effect …

I also made use of the opportunity to plug in the ol' watt meter and get some up to date readings. The below photo was taken with the motor turned off, so the "normal sailing" reading (to the extent that such a reading can be had in a bathtub) at mid throttle of +/- 1.4A doesn't show. However, the peak current (at full throttle and with the boat held stationary) of 6.21A tallies pretty well with my previous estimates, and, I hope and think, means that the 10A main fuse and 15A ESC should be not only adequate but appropriate.

I also used the opportunity to take a few pics of the ship in the (sort of) dark, with her lights on: stern light, top light and navigation lights …

… and, in the wheelhouse, the binnacle light.

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 30/03/2015 19:58:18

Edited By Banjoman on 30/03/2015 19:59:48

Edited By Banjoman on 30/03/2015 20:02:04

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Thank you very much indeed, Colin, for your kind words!

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

Mattias,

It has been a real pleasure to follow this thread and the finished model is a real credit to your model making skills. Looking forward to seeing the continuation to the thread – will this be photographs of Eilean Mor out of the bath and on the lake?

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Thank you very much indeed, Tony, for your kind words!

Yes, I soon hope to be able to put up some photos of her on the lake! Essentially I'm just waiting for some decentish weather to coincide with a free Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

In the meanwhile, I still have to finish the dinghy and, once it is ready, glue down the loose battens and cover boards strewn on top of the hatch.

The false companionway handrails has to be glued in place inside the companionway shelter.

Then there's an Aitkens 90/ Ale-label to put on the bottle in the Skipper's hand, and possibly (if I can manage a decent facsimile to scale) also a folded-up copy of the Evening Times sports pages from Saturday, June 2nd 1951 to have laying about somewhere on board.

I must also rig the gear for flying the anchor light from the forestay, and decide on a good way and place to stow said anchor light in a way which'll leave it visible but in a not too unrealistic spot; my current thinking is putting it with its downhaul rope into another old Aitkens beer crate maybe lashed between two bulwark supports somewhere around the foredeck.

Finally I shall put an eye splice into and stow the aft mooring rope on the taffrail gratings.

I have probaly forgotten something that also needs to be sorted before I'm quite done, but anyway there are still a few weeks' worth of finishing touches to be taken care of.

In other words: to be continued …

/Mattias

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

And so, here's getting on with some of the remaining smaller jobs … First up, glueing in the false companionway handrails …

Next up, lashing a small block to the main forestay, approximately three quarters up along the stay …

… and the anchor light hoist added, secured to the forestay turnbuckle …

… and rove through said block on the forestay.

I don't intend to actually hoist the anchor light, but the necessary tackle will be shown left in place, ready for use if and as needed.

I was, however, not quite happy with my first attempt, as I found the rigging thread used a tad on the heavy side at 0.8 mm. I thus decided to redo the hoist, using 0.5 mm rigging thread instead …

… which I think looks more proportionate. An anchor light is after all not that heavy a contraption …

… and speaking of the anchor light, well, here it is!

I still need to come up with a satisfactory way of stowing it safely but visibly, as I think it would be a bit of a shame to hide such a nice-looking object under the proverbial bushel …

To be continued …

/Mattias

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

And here is the finished anchor light, complete with downhaul/steadying line. It is not in its final place here, though – I have just borrowed the ship's bell hook to hang it up for taking a photo …

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 05/04/2015 19:22:36

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Work also continues on the dinghy. I decided early on not to use the pre-printed plywood parts provided with the kit. To produce the bulwark capping I instead traced the outline of the GRP hull onto a piece of paper …

… added outer and inner margins and glued a photocopy of the result onto some 2 mm sheet maple with re-positionable spray glue.

I then cut out the capping blanks on the bandsaw …

… and checked them for general fit on the hull.

Next the blanks were glued in place with epoxy (the only glue in my workshop that I know will grab onto both wood, GRP and styrene) …

… with this as result.

The aft capping was also added, and the whole thing trimmed down to size and shape, inside and out.

This exercise was a tad on the tricky side, as the GRP hull is not quite as symmetrical as one could have wished for, nor are the curvatures of the bulwarks truly smooth and even, but any mirrored shapes are of course notorious in this respect.

I therefore had to aim for the illusion of symmetry, rather than the real McCoy, and try to acheive something that looks enough of the thing to make do by hiding the worst of the asymmetries and creating at least a feeling of shape coherence and unity. 

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 05/04/2015 19:38:11

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Next, I indicated with some masking tape around the outside of the dinghy hull where the floor board supports should go on the inside, and then transfered the hull profiles of those spots to paper with the help of a profile gauge …

… to facilitate shaping the supports from strip styrene to create an even platform for the floor boards to eventually sit on.

I also added gudgeons and pintles to the rudder assembly. The rudder will of course be stowed away inside the dinghy, but at least the pintles and gudgeons ought to be there.

With this sorted the basic structure of dinghy hull is ready, and I therefore plan to start painting it tonight.

There still remains, of course, to make up thwarts and floor boards and to add fittings like oars and rowlocks, but this will come after painting the hull.

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 07/04/2015 09:05:19

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hello Banjo

I really do like your…."Tight as a drum" rigging……………… looks lovely!

There's a lot of work in that Dinghy?

Keep on strummin'

Bob

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Well, Bob, I am after all a banjo player: when I see a string, I tighten it, don't I!?

And yes, a certain amount of work has gone into the dinghy, but then, why not? I mean, it will be displayed in a fairly prominent position on top of the hatch, so will be quite visible.

And speking of the dinghy, work has continued to progress, and last week it was finally time to start painting the hull, as usual with airbrush and Vallejo Premium RC Color paints. First up, of course, a coat of primer …

… both inside …

… and out.

As usual, the primer coat threw up a the few last beaty spots requiring filler and/or sanding, so after adding the final coats of gloss white paint to the inside, the outside received its final spots of Milliput.

Once this had cured, and the paint on the inside had been left for 72 hours to dry completely, it was time to start masking off the interior, first with a strip of 3 mm washi masking tape …

… followed by a gradual build up with increasing widths of regular Tamiya tape.

I had decided to paint the outside in dark gray, and after some experimentation with various paint mixes settled on 4 parts 62.020 black to 4 parts 62.001 white, 2 parts 62.014 dark green and 2 parts 62.018 sepia.

This was sprayed on in several coats which, once they were sufficiently dry for the masking tape to be removed, gave the following result …

…

…

…

I might still spray on some satin varnish on top of the dark grey, to dull it a tad more, but on the whole I am reasonably please with the result.

There still remains, of course, to make up the floor boards and thwarts, and also to add the various fittings and other details, but that'll be for later.

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 13/04/2015 09:30:24

Edited By Banjoman on 13/04/2015 09:31:07

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Although the build is not yet finished (there's the detailing of the dinghy, plus a number of small odd jobs still to be sorted), with the arrival yesterday of a beautiful, sunny spring Sunday, I could no longer resist the call of the pond: it was time for Eilean Mòr to make her maiden voyage!

The club pond is about half an hour away by car, so some sort of transport packaging would be preferable, I thought.

Luckily, I'd hung on to the very sturdy cardboard box in which the kit was delivered. Combining the box with the upturned lid provied a quite strong structure, which I then padded with an old pillow and some bubble wrap.

At the short ends I also added plastic handles that I had saved from some elctrical appliance box or other: the back supports make them perfectly strong and keeps the cardboard from tearing, and the handles make the box that much easier to carry.

On loading the box into the back of the car …

… I happily found that it was a perfect fit between the rear wheel houses, where it could furthermore be secured with a strap run through two cargo points. A towel and some blocks of scrap plolystyrene further cushioned and secured the model in the box.

I was of course not the only club member who had been watching the weather report, and pondside was thus nicely busy, both on the pond …

… and at the club tables.

After plugging in the wattmeter to get some real-life actual-running figures on Amps and suchlike from the upcoming run …

… it was time to wet 'er feet!

So, away she went…

… with, on shore, a rather chuffed Banjoman behind the sticks!

To be continued …

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 13/04/2015 09:55:26

Edited By Banjoman on 13/04/2015 09:58:16

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Here are some more photos from yesterday's maiden cruise; there is also a short video available at **LINK**.

I am also delighted to say that the sail went very, very well indeed! The boat handles fairly well, although at scale-ish speed, the steering is perhaps not fantastic. She turns then, too, but not on a penny; however, at slightly higher speeds, she goes about nicely enough.

Reverse steering capability is fairly non-existent, but throwing the throttle from ahead to full astern will stop her dead in the water literally within inches. Otherwise she behaves well in revers, with no tendencies of the stern digging in, or excessive build up of prop wash splash.

Peak Amps came in just under 6.6, while an hour and bit's worth of sailing gobbled some 1.8Ah; given the 10Ah SLA with which she is fitted, this means she should be good for several hours of sailing on a single charge.

After said hour she was also dry as a bone on the inside: not a single drop could I detect, not even under the inside bushing of the propeller shaft!

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… and so she heads off into the great blue yonder …

To be continued …

/Mattias

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

What a great maiden sail Mattias, you must be absolutely delighted after all your hard work on her. A lovely venue for the great occasion too! The steering response in the video looks pretty good to me.

You have really captured the puffer character.

Colin

[BanjomanParticipant @banjoman]

Thank you very much indeed, Colin, for your kind words!

Yes — I will admit to pretty much unlimited delight with the results, and not least with the completely troublefree maiden sail.

At the speed at which she's running in that short video, yes, manoeuvrability and steering response was indeed good enough; however, at that speed, she was going a tad too fast for my taste.

As I was holding the mobile in one hand to film, though, while steering with the other I had to use a fixed throttle setting for that bit of sailing, and for the sake of steerability opted for going a little faster than I would otherwise have preferred. (this set-up, I think, might also help explain the cinematographically quite interesting lawn close-up sequence in the middle of the film )

Again, many thanks

/Mattias

Edited By Banjoman on 13/04/2015 13:46:37

Edited By Banjoman on 13/04/2015 13:46:53

Edited By Banjoman on 13/04/2015 13:47:19

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