Liverpool class Lifeboat, a Metcalf models kit.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Tonight i have been putting all the parts rogeher that adorn the main bulkhead inside the whaleback.

some have been glued of with cyano, which will be sprayed with Ford Polar grey in situ, whilst other parts will be painted seperately because of the variors colours in them, and these i will paint tomorrow along side the aft part of the whaleback interior which i have clad with the simulated framing.

to ease matters of possition, rather than leave my place in front of the tv every time i wanted to position a part, i just photographed the cockpit interior and put it up on screen………..saved me going out to the cold workshop every 5 minutes,

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

and the bulkhead has now become quite a busy little place indeed.

a small kit within a kit.

paint brushes out tomorrow!

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Been a busy boy this afternoon after picking up a new can of grey primer.

Primed most of the fittings that go on to the bulkhead, and then spayed [once primer dry] the main coat of Halfords Ford Polar Grey on to the bulkhead itself.

Then I set too putting the strengthening bars on to the 10 port lights for the whaleback using 0.8mm brass wire, secuting into the cast slots with cyano.

Next I fabricated the inner cockpit grab rails using the cast brackets and 2mm dowel supplied in the kit.

And finally started fabricating the gimballed compass that attaches to the read headlining of the whaleback. To do this I mixed a small amount of Milliput white and stuffed it into the lower "bowl" of the compass and then attached the gimball ring to that,using twp pins which pressed home into the Milliput and have set aside for the Milliput to harden. The Milliput is going to act as the compass dial face on which I can mark all Cardinal points with black pen. I also attached the upper pin to the support bracket which holds the compass body to the cockpit.

And tonight, I shall paint all the fidly bits of the fittings that aren't grey.

 

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 16/01/2022 21:05:08

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

the fittings for the bulkhead have bn painted and such dials relating to the engines and clock have been detailed and attached.

once i have sealed with cellilose laquer the interior framed area and painted it, i can attach the bulkhead inside the whaleback…….

and then make the deck which will be glued into the whaleback.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Interior framework of the whaleback has been painted using humbrol no.113 mahogany brown and left to dry.

The port holes have been sprayed brass gold colour,

And the gimballed compass put together.

SO!!! after driving one end of the Fylde to the other seeking out craft shops looking for a sheet of 1.5mm ply for the floor of the whaleback without any luck in finding any,…………..durrrrrrr. there were two sheets of the stuff in my sheet rack attached to the door of the workhouse. So once all the interior has been fitted into the whaleback, I can fit the initial floor and then fit the laser printed deck to boat itself, befor sorting out my idea for making the whaleback to deck totally waterproof.

constuction can then carry on in more regular pace.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

this evening after fitting out the remaining parts to the interior it was now time to make the floor.

using the cnc cut part that holds the planked interior for the cockpit as a template i cut out a new deck, macking sure i cut aross the grain of the ply. i did this so that the wooden floor would bend easier with the grain running across the cabin floor rather than length ways.

just a little sanding and it fits very nicely with very little gap between the under deck and the main printed deck.

once this was cut and fitted [temporarily] i turned my attention to making a second template for the piece that fits snugly into the hull recess . this was made from 2mm artist backing card, and will tomorrow be transfered on to 3 thicknesses of the 1.5mm ply to give the sub- deck some thickness.

All going to plan at the moment

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

The deck to the whaleback has been masked off on the inside to stop seepage of glue into the cabin.

The rim has also been marked and drilled for very small framing pins into the timber surrounds already clued into the cockpit surrounds………

And the deck was glued and pinned using ZAP 30 minute setting 2 part epoxy, that I will leave for a couple of hours to cure properly. I'll also leave it on the radiator in 30 minutes or so to aid the final curing.

It's held in place with strong masking tape. Off out to the workshop in a few minutes to cut 3 layers of the sub deck that will house the whole whaleback firmly into the deck opening.

The 3 layers will be cut across the grain just as the whaleback main deck was so that they will bend equally to the shape of the main and cockpit deck whilst gluing.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Getting the boat ready for laying the printed deck down in the morning.

The gunwails have ben sprayed ith a textured paint which gives a none slip appearence to the area between the hull sides and the deck.

this paint looks like jelly when aplied in one quickly applied layer, and cures rather than dries and takes between 12 – 24 hours to reach a hardened dry state, depending on the temperature surrounding it.

as it is in my workshop at the moment i will probably be waiting towards tomorrow evening before i can glue the deck down.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

there's a good few kilo#s of old "useless" batteries there!

gave the reverse side of the printed deck a liberal coating of aliphatic waterproof glue, timber to timber glue……..quick grab, setting within a couple of hours rock solid.

and then glued in place using the batteries to set it in place.

and i had to put the cabin somewhere…..the crew are now in an elevated viewing position.

[geconParticipant @gecon]

Doesn't seem like the batteries are useless at all Neil…they are being used -and doing a good job! Think how bored you would get if you had to to their job…pressing like mad for hours on end . Not to  mention the environmental impact if you threw them in the bin….but you would never do such a thing, I know.

George

Edited By gecon on 19/01/2022 15:03:55

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

and now comes the crucial important part in the operation to get the deck and cabin watertight.

I have used the template that I cut earlier to mark 3 layers of the 1.5mm ply and cut it across the grain making it easier to bend. And once glued to the base of the Whaleback, follow the sheer of the deck.

I have pinned the 3 pieces together and have sanded them on my linisher to th template line to get identical pieces.

Laid on to the underside of the whaleback deck they fit to the line marked om the base well, and just a matter of waiting now for the main deck to dry, and to remove the batteries before I can see if the "plug" fits the hole, before i glue it to the whaleback deck.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Posted by gecon on 19/01/2022 15:00:41:

Doesn't seem like the batteries are useless at all Neil…they are being used -and doing a good job! Think how bored you would get if you had to to their job…pressing like mad for hours on end . Not to mention the environmental impact if you threw them in the bin….but you would never do such a thing, I know.

George

Edited By gecon on 19/01/2022 15:03:55

yes, mate…………they are far too useful in their second life span……………..cant count the number of decks that they have laid………….

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Finally after a tweek here and a sanding there, the whaleback fits into the recess in the deck without any slack movement at all…………a nice solid fit!

And once the boat is finished, just for the run I am going to make a couple of L shaped brackets,small and unobtrusive to screw into the cabin, one each side and into the deck, to stop it lifting off in the rough passage up Windermere under sail. with those fitted and an ample use of grease between cabin and deck, I feel reasonably convinced and confident that I won't get any water into the hull, and if I do then I have two pumps to dispell it from the bilges.

Onwards and upwards with the build now that that is done……….feeling pleased with myself.

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[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

It's no good making the joint between deck and cabin as watertight as you can, if your deck is awash with water,

And unfortunately judging by the weather that Windermere had on the 27th june, 2020, when our Windermere challenge was supposed to take part, but cancelled because of the Covid 19 pandemic, I don't hol;d out for shorts, T shirt and sun hat weather this coming june,……

Living close to the English lake district, just across Morecambe Bay it can be bright and sunny in Fleetwood, but peeing it down in the Lakes.

And this is what it was like, that fateful day in 2020…….believe it or not, it was about force 6-7 on the Beaufort scale, lashing with rain and thunder and sheet/forked lightnig reverberating around the fells and mountains.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

And so!, the last deviation in the kit build of the Liverpool class lifeboat, from the kit as designed and produced, and of course the expectations that this wee boat at 37" long, compared with the monsters that Steve Bennett, Martin Kinghoward and Mike Pendlebury have built for the run, is going to get swamped, have had to come up with a way of freeing the water from the deck.

The real boats had a series of none return deck valves, allowing the water to drain out through tubes to the hinged plates on the side of the boats hull, but the feasability of me getting these to work was beyond my patience or cababilities.

So, I resorted to cutting some oval holes into the scuppers, just below the belting and at deck level on the inside. of the bulwarks.

The inners were made from the plastic "weight" of an old roller blind, and I had just enough to cut on the band saw to a width suitable for my needs.

As they are tucked immediately under the hull raised belting

[painted red], these will be sprayed blue along with the hull, and from a meter away, I dont think they will be too visible, camoflaged by the hull and belting……….and to any rivet counters……….raspberries to them and the winnie victory sign.

Of course once the inner printed ply bulwark capping strips have been fitted, before spraying, the inner holes will be drilled and sanded in the ply, and then the holes filled with milliput and moulded and sanded flush before the hull is sprayed blue.

And finally I needed some liquid refreshment after all the dust of cutting and shaping the holes had been done.

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 21/01/2022 16:25:58

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

This afternoon and evening, between taxiing my daughters here and there I made the fore and aft end box bulkheads and top plates from the lazer cut parts in the kit. the uprights and supports have been glued in,

But the tops and the grp mouldings have yet to be fitted, but wiring for lights has to go in to the bow box, and the steering servo and mount have to go into the stern end box and wiring fed through to the central access before the tops are glued in place and filled and fared in.

Finally the two bulwark printed side covers that show the diagonal planking and caulking lines have been dry fitted ready for cutting the water shed holes to match up to those already cut into the hull.

The photos are a little jumbled up as i kept swapping from one end of the boat to the other, gluing some parts whilst the other end set.

And there, i have left it all until tomorrow.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

I think the freeing ports look perfectly feasible Neil. They are also so neatly integrated that few will even notice.

Looking at the weather possibilities in the Lake District, renown for it quickly changing conditions and extremes, I think you are almost going to have to build the model to a 'submersible' standard.

Just a thought, which I'm sure you will already have covered, are you going to secure the cockpit with a couple of magnets? Perhaps a smear of vaseline around the cockpit joint to the deck would help to seal it and a couple of strong magnets would ensure it remains in place.

Does the challenge involve you sailing the entire length of Windermere? Isn't that in the region of over 10 miles? That's quite a distance for a boat of this size. Mind you Ron Dean once sailed one of his early 1/96th scale destroyers across the channel so it is surprising just what these models can achieve.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

hI Richard,

yes i am going to make two small L shaped brackets which will screw into the cabin sides, and then into the deck for the run, as i dont really want to trust magnets even though people swear by them…. the whaleback is quite heavy and although it is a good fit i fear a broadside would dislodge it, and that would be the deep six, before our David Vernon in his rescue lifeboat.

the screw holes will then, once the Windermere challenge is over, i'll put a couple of deck and cabin fittings into the holes that i will miss out for the initial build.

as for vaseline, i would like to put a thicker stickier grease in place around the well, but dont know what to use, so nearer the time i will go to my local garage that i have been using for more than 30 years and ask them for a little advice, or even our Lifeboat mechanic at Fleetwood station for a little jar of what they use.

the sail will be from Waterhead in the north, where we will have a following wind, down to the bottom of the lake at Fell Foot, approximately 10 miles. we plan to stop, most probably at the Windermere Royal Yacht Club, for lunch, and then there will be a gathering for a few drinks and something to eat in the evenlig as a wind down.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Before any of the other planked cladding is put on to the two end boxes, the two main strips covering the gunwales had to be marked for the cut outs for the freeing ports

I cut them out just as I did on the gunwales of the boat hull, and then sanded them to take the plastic tubing, before trimming them to fit the tops of the gunwales, and finally gluing one side at a time, starting with the starboard side.

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 23/01/2022 18:33:56

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

first side set, second side gluing.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Last job tonight as i havent warmed up my workshop today so cannot be bothered going out looking for a servo, extension leads to it, or a scotch block to mount into the bow end box and wiring for the navigation lights which are all next to be fitted.

And so I fitted the oval tubes to the freeing ports….

I used 2 part 5 minute setting epoxy to fit them in. And all i can say is they look very messy from the outside of the hull but not too bad from the inside, and hat is before i have cleaned them up.

So that's it for tonight, and look forward to the other jobs I first stated and hope that I can get those done by Tuesday night……….as Wednesday is our friend, Malcolm Frary's funeral, and I tend just to sit quietly and watch TV after such an event, so a day of contemplation……….and donating blood on Thursday, so another day when I won't be doing a great deal in the afternoon,

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

left it late this evening as was interested in a couple of programmes on TV.

1] Blanked off the hole in the bow end box to make that a water tight air box for a little flotation should the old girl try sinking on me.

2] fixed the wiring from the inside if the hull to a scotch block on the underside of the top plate of the bow end box and fed the wires through the plate ready for the navigation lights to attach too.. the plate is now ready to glue in place.

3] An extension cable was fed through the hull from the stern using 1/32 dia. brass wire for the rudder servo to guide and pull it through from the stern.

4] A retaining box was made from 2mm plasticard for the rudder servo to sit into tightly, but able to be removed should a replacement be fitted.

5] the servo box will be fitted in place tomorrow using some type of adhesive, to be determined.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

been an evening of bits and bats, where getting parts ready for fitting means other parts have to be installed first, like the fitting of the aft end box.

the retaining box for the servo had to be made and fitted but this also had to give head room for the servo arm to fit under the end box top.

But also the rudder gear box casting had to be fitted, which ment that i had to cut away some of the stern rudder post moulding in the grp.

i made a small deviation here in that i used a casting from the Ann Letitia Russell boat that i still have a few spare parts for. this although not true to the Liverpool as it is a little larger than the Liverpool rudder box, it has given me greater access to removing the servo mid Windermere sail should it become over worked.

But also, the position of the servo arm capstain in the possition it was in, was not accessable should i need to remove it and fit a spare servo……..so a hatch was then cut into the top of the end box, to give me perfect access………job done! ………

and so tomorrow i can put that all together, fill the gaps, and make ready for the massive sanding down of it all.

i will also tomorrow get the next stage of the wiring in place in the top of the bow end box for the lights , threading those through the grp top before gluing that in place.

 

and finally for tonight, a support block has been glued in place for he bow end box

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 25/01/2022 22:44:54

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Neil,

Splash out on a new SAVOX servo they are the best in my view, can't take chance's of it failing on your ocean voyage

It's a bloomin expensive kit !!

Regards Ray

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Posted by Ray Wood 2 on 26/01/2022 12:21:29:

Hi Neil,

It's a bloomin expensive kit !!

Regards Ray

not when you see what is in it ray……..i put it down to how many pints of beer you can buy for the same £540 quid………150….

what have you got to show for that 150 pints except a big belly and type 2 diabetis……..plus a lot of headaches, lol.

i know which gives me more pleasure these days…….and its not hang overs.

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