MOTOR SAILOR LIFEBOAT

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

those should keep me busy, lol.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

 

have this morning given the end boxes of both boats a spray with appliance white from Halfords.

I have set my phone alarm for an hour, when I will turn the boats over and paint the under sides of boat.

reset alarm for another hour, and then give the end boxes their second coat…….and visa versa……….giving a 2 hour gap between each coat on each part of the boat.

I have been told by my good and learned friend that 4 full coats is enough.

then I will leave both boats for a full 48 hours, upside down so that the hull isn't touched by anything so that the paint will cure and harden perfectly..in this way, both end boxes and hull will not come into contact with anything that might leave an impression on the "soft" paintwork.

that will be purgatory, but has to be done, lol.

and now the first light coat of white has been added to the hull…….in an hour the next coat to the end boxes.

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 27/04/2020 12:40:37

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

 

 

now that I have done the work on the hull readying for paint work there are a few little bits that I have to do on the fittings for the model , readying to stick them to the boat.

the first of them was to cut the tiller arm to the rudder on the motor sailor into two pieces.

the boat was mechanically steered by a wheel mounted on the stern bulkhead, but with emergency tiller steering.

however, when erected the tiller extended over the ships wheel, and would most certainly have got in the way for the helmsman, and so the tiller was shortened and relocated into a metal bracket on one end of the tiller permanently, with the shortened end located in a storage bracket on the aft bulkhead.

with only very poor photos and brief sections of plans to look at, I can only use modellers licence to judge what the set up looks like, and in photos I would like to present my interpretation of what I could make out……….all parts were made from 0.8mm plasticard using plastic weld liquid glue. 

but as my old late friend Frank Hinchliffe used to say about detailing ……….."bull pooh baffles brains mate when detailing a model…….let the rivet counters prove differently."

 

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 28/04/2020 22:02:59

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 28/04/2020 22:04:20

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

 

today, I picked up the tabernacles from a friend who had them 3D printed. he did this for me as my two other sources were unable to get them to me because of personal illness and then the stand by set, because the company he was working for closed due to lockdown.

these were made as a temporary set to get the model rigged. If the printed ones work for a while on the working boat with the stress that they will be put under I will still have the brass ones when they eventually arrive as a stand by..

They will be kept on the showcase model as she will come under no stress from sailing.

I also painted some of the rigging stays with silver to represent galvanised steel

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 29/04/2020 23:48:25

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

the tabernacles have been fitted with timber "shims" so that the masts can fit snugly without any twisting of the mast in its seat .

tomorrow they will be finely sanded and then stained with dark mahogany to match the masts,and then sealed with cellulose sealer. In the mean time I will cut some threaded bar to length to run through the tabernacles and masts so that they pivot on the correct axes.

once done the holes for the locking pins will be drilled through all as well.

then it will be just a case of drilling the bases for securing bolts to the decks of the boats.

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 29/04/2020 23:55:44

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Neil,

Your detailed work on these Lifeboats is very inspirational , keep up the good work 🌞

Regards Ray

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Very nice work, well done Neil

I hope your models will be on show somewhere, eventually

Ellesmere would have been nice?

Bob

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

I was invited to Ellesmere before Christmas Bob, and said yes, but sadly like everything else……

my biggest regret this year has been the cancellation of the TT Races as for the 1st time in 4 years I was able to get a day return from Heysham……..usually its all booked up ……..never mind.

the motor sailor will be at shows, but I have donated the pulling and sailing lifeboat to the Lytham St Annes lifeboat museum, So will be on show at the Windmill on the green at Lytham. once lock down is over.

Thank you for you kind words Ray and Bob, it is nice that excellent modellers find my work "inspirational"…..I just do what has to be done, lol.

todays work will follow.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

The old plastic tabernacle sides were used as templates for size and positioning the holes for the printed tabs.

every thing was lined up, drilled from both sides so as to get the holes running true through the timber, and then the securing bolts and the locking pins were put in………

that process turned out well.

once the hulls have been painted, the tabernacles will be located on the correct positions on the boats, and fixed in place, ready for when I want to rig the two models………but I don't want the masts, sails and rigging to get in the way of any deck clutter.

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 30/04/2020 18:19:02

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

thought i'd do a little masking up today,

usually use "Frog" tape, but have heard so much about Tamiya tape that I bought a small roll……so used that as the lining tape to begin with. seems to have stuck well, so will see what the outcome is in a few hours..

gave both boats their respective colours.

Ford Bermuda light blue from Halfords for the "Victorian" Blackpool lifeboat, and because I only have one can of Halfords Ford Baliol Blue, I used a base coat of Ford Royal blue, which I had half a can left from a previous paint job. So the colour on the motor lifeboat at the moment is Royal Blue…..slightly [ever so] darker than Baliol blue.

next coat on each……….just another hour to go!

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Neil. Nice. What can I say…the temptation to "finger" the paint to see if its dry…!!!!!

Like the light blue colour.

Ashley

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

 

Ashley, you are as child like as me, as I have done that many times in my building days, and ruined it…..this time I resisted, lol.

Just the gloss tartan red to paint on to the belting and the inside and tops of the bulwark capping rails to paint now, and this will be masked up and painted in a few days once the blue and white have settled.

then onto fitting out with the fittings already made and some coming from my friend Dave Metcalf.

must admit, that Tamiya masking tape is the dogs doodahs,,not a single leak under it at all.

 

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 01/05/2020 21:55:05

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi Neil

Lovely workmanship

The powder blue looked very nice

Is this your indoor workshop?

Bob

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Posted by Bob Abell on 02/05/2020 07:04:15:

The powder blue looked very nice

Is this your indoor workshop?

Bob

It certainly is Bob…….where everything gets dumped by myself and my two daughters for me to sort……..which due to my foot is taking second place to my building at the moment……….I am just so close to finishing them and handing the museum model over to my friend who is curator that i wanna get them done………then by that time my foot will no longer give me any pain, I can have a grand tidy up and then pass on to a model i have been wanting to build for some years……..another Fleetwood lifeboat.

the light blue boat is painted in the "Victorian" colours,is called ford Bermuda blue and as much as I would have loved to have painted mine in the same colours she missed the change by about 10 years and so was painted in "Baliol" blue

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Thank you Neil

I`m a little ashamed to admit, I`d forgotten about your foot injury!

Keep up the good work anyway

It`s a shame that the virus will interfere with any museum celebrations though?

Hang on a bit longer?

Bob

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

an afternoon of both painting such things as tiller arms and the motor sailor rudder…and the white oars

and then modernising a rudder steering head that was originally made from plasticard and then moulded in white metal for the Liverpool class boat that I designed for Dave Metcalf.

this I marked onto the stern [of course…..why I said that gawd knows] end box, then I decided that to be a good fit I was going to "glue" it on to the hull I was going to use p38 filler..

to aid the adhesion, I drilled partially into the white metal fitting and through the grp end box. I have used the method before, and never had a problem with such a mate as long as you key both surfaces with abrasive paper and put plenty of filler on so that once pressed down into place the filler is squeezed into both sets of holes.

once it started to set and go rubbery I cut off the excess filler that had been squeezed out, and trimmed it up[ neat and tidy.

it was then masked off and painted with Humbrol gloss blue no. 15 which is an almost perfect match for Baliol blue'

 

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 02/05/2020 19:51:38

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Posted by Bob Abell on 02/05/2020 16:16:25:

Thank you Neil

I`m a little ashamed to admit, I`d forgotten about your foot injury!

Keep up the good work anyway

It`s a shame that the virus will interfere with any museum celebrations though?

Hang on a bit longer?

Bob

Dont worry about that Bob……..Done worse falling out of bed, lol………..

and not a big one for ceremonies or hand overs……..would rather just hand it to him distance preserved at his works, and have a beer with him once all this lockdown is over………it will only get dusty in my home, lol……………let him have the pleasure of dusting it.

and besides its taking up space that could be taken with my new project yet to be started.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

masked up for the bulwark cappings and the belting…..ran out of Tamiya tape, just an inch from the end of the last belt and so had to finish with frog tape.

and then sat them out in the sun to dry…..may be able to get a finishing coat on them before bed time.

 

 

 

Edited By neil howard-pritchard on 03/05/2020 16:26:01

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

My word, Neil, your models are simply superb!

The Lifeboat men in those days must have very men

I` shall feel a bit sad when you have actually finished them!

Well done. my mate

Bob

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Posted by Bob Abell on 03/05/2020 17:09:08:

My word, Neil, your models are simply superb!

The Lifeboat men in those days must have very men

I` shall feel a bit sad when you have actually finished them!

Well done. my mate

Bob

thank you bob, those words are so lovely…..the bravery of all crew is just unimaginable……..

when once asked many years ago, why do lifeboat men do such a job, and go out in such horrendous weather to save people that they do not know, the Cosx'n of Caister on Sea lifeboat said just so matter of factly said "We have to go out, we do not have to come back"

I was once asked by a good friend who was a Staff Coxs'n in the RNLI, and coxs'n of Fleetwood lifeboat, numerous times to join the crew of Fleetwood lifeboat …………I was never brave enough to do so, and am eternally ashamed of myself, that I couldn't bring myself to join.

but why will you feel sad when I finish them….there will be others.lol.

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

Hi Neil, how come we`ve never seen your builds before?

You seem to have appeared completely out of the blue

You must have been building Life Boats for years

How about you post a few pictures of your previous models?

Bob

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Posted by Bob Abell on 03/05/2020 18:21:01:

Hi Neil, how come we`ve never seen your builds before?

You seem to have appeared completely out of the blue

You must have been building Life Boats for years

How about you post a few pictures of your previous models?

Bob

I have only ever had one hobby Bob………building model boats…..started with my grand dad who was a master cabinet maker and pattern maker teaching me from the age of 8 years old, how to carve a hull for a 3 masted square rigger in yellow pine……he was almost blind by then, but could feel where pieces needed cutting and carving………the model was about 8 inches long.

and apart from the many dalliances into motor cycles and sports cars over the years, it is the only hobby I have ever wanted top do.

and the only reason why I have never posted a build log on here is as simple as……..I am useless at computer literacy, and it has taken me until now to actually figure out how to post photos and put them on to the thread…..my good friend Dave Milbourn will testify to my stupidity regarding computers electricity, and electronics….I AM USELESS with anything with a current………….except Eccles cakes, lol.

if you want to see some of my creations, just look through my albums………….all built within the last 13 years amongst others that I have lost photos of during computer crashes, over the years, lol.

[Dave MilbournParticipant @davemilbourn48782]

.my good friend Dave Milbourn will testify to my stupidity regarding computers electricity, and electronics

Maybe, NH-P, but equally there are aspects of your building skills which I couldn't hope to emulate in a million years. I guess we're all good at something and we learn from each other.

That's why we're drawn to this Internet forum.

BTW I LURV Eccles cakes.

Dave M

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

BTW I LURV Eccles cakes.

Dave M

my mum used to make the most juicy ones ever…….I was trusted with taking 2 dozen to my narrow boat readying for a 2 week expedition all points south with my wife, my elder sister and brother in law……

the red cross parcel was known to be coming as mother had made it well known to sister who was travelling up to chorley from Norwich for our holiday……..

i had to confess that I had slipped down the bank to my narrow boat and dropped the whole lot except the one I was eating into the canal, where they were promptly eaten by a swarm of ducks, swans and seagulls………my name was mud for the nest 2 weeks………..and sadly they were the last ones we got as the old bird was by then in early stages of Ahlziemers and never made any more…..

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

oars painted and fitted loosely to the thwarts for the sailor lifeboat whilst the red paint dries over night…..still tacky, so will give a second coat tomorrow on both boats.

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