My Clyde Puffer

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

The only time I wish I had a scroll saw !! but I use a Starett 25mm hole cutters for plywood and a coping saw , and a simpler version of sharpened tubes for balsa, as an aeromodeller we try and add as much air as possible

Good to hear from George your epic builds are missed

Regards Ray

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Ray, I`m beginning to think your workshop is a mini BandQ with all the tools you`ve aquired over time, a bit like Neils, looking at his pictures

Jim.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

60 odd years of collecting and aquiring, James…..and half the stuff you can't see, as they only get used once in a blue moon. lol….but there when needed.

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

I've managed without a bandsaw for 5 builds, having decided in favour of a scroll saw, but the opportunity of a band saw came up and I'm collecting it later this week. Looking forward to trying it out on my next build.

You can never have too many tools!

Chris

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Finally got the bulkheads fixed togrther so that everything is pretty sturdy. I decided to do away with the side extensions on the bulkheads as A, they didn`t look right and mine were too thick, and B , after looking at some pictures in the Clyde Puffer book, there didn`t seem to be any that I could see.

At the moment just sanding down the curved edges on the bulkheads to take the planking and will add extra glue blocks as I want to have a go at at planking along the whole length of the hull. I might be giving myself a lot of work but if it fails , I can cut the bits out that don`t work and resort to blocking. I`ve looked at Styrofoam from 4D but for what I`d need it seemed expensive and as I had the wood, thought I`d try the other way first. Planks to cut first , but that might take a while , as now the really cold weather has arrived the garage is no fun place to be , with no heat in there.

Jim.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Made a start on my first attempt at straight planking.

I`m using 1.6mm ply, 6mm wide planks. At the moment I`ll work outwards from the keel to the edge of the curve , then work upwards from the deck. Well, that`s the plan anyway, and see how we meet in the middle. I bought myself a one metre steel rule which has made cutting the planks much easier.

A couple of pictures added to show progress, warts and all!! The gaps at the bow and stern will be filled with `stealers` or wedges and blended in to suit. ( looks a bit of a mess at the moment ).

Slow progress, but at least a start, and you can see some shape to it.

Jim.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hello Jim,

Fine work, your a braver man than me planking from the stem !! my new edition to the workshop is an old electric kettle not for making tea !! but to put strip wood into for a few minutes to help the bending process, may help with your ply bending ??

Happy New Year

Ray

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 06/01/2023 19:50:55

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Happy New Year to you as well Ray.

I like the kettle idea. I put the ends of the plank in an old watering can for a while . Although the ply bends quite well when dry, as you know it`s much easier when damp. On this hull there is quite a lot of twisting to get things to sit correctly but at present it seems to be going ok. Hopefully it will look a lot smarter when it`s all sanded down.

When completed, I`m thinking of giving it a covering of glass cloth just seal everything up.

Your plan in the current magazine looks a good build so that would cover a missing sailboat in the collection. and teach me how to rig one!!

Best wishes, Jim

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Wish i could PoF like you guys, too old to try improving now lol.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

A lot of us couldn`t do the moulds and casting that you do Neil, that`s why we admire your work.

Jim.

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

Are you going to plate over the planking? as puffers were generally made of iron or steel!

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hello Bob, thankyou for your interest.

Figuring out how to put plating on the hull is something I`ve been thinking about. My thought at present would be to glue some thin ply over the planks and have dummy rivet heads showing. I have a video of the VIC 32 which I`ve looked at quite a few times now to get ideas and also the book suggested by others which has useful pictures in it. I think it`s a case of trying to work out what would look right. If I can get it reasonably effective , hopefully it would look quite good. It would certainly give it some character.

Kind regards, Jim.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hello Jim,

I would use stout paper plating soaked in water is pliable enough to take the shape & when dry PVA dots for the rivets and epoxy resin over, if you can be bothered, It's a big model !!

Ply wouldn't take the compound curves your creating IMHO.

Regards Ray

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

I use paper plates laid with a gap between them. This is to represent the raised and sunken plating strakes and it is very effective when painted. You can just about see them here – Bob

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

This is a hull plated with strips of paper with the gap between to represent the sunken strakes –

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Bob and Ray, Thankyou for your suggestion about using paper rather than ply for the plating. I`m pretty sure once I`d started with ply I would probably have soon found out that it wouldn`t have been flexible enough, even when soaked. What type of adhesive might be ok? It would need to be pretty thin I should think otherwise it might show as rather lumpy plating

Bob, I see what you mean, looking at your picture of Margaret Wicks. Very effective and a lovely model. I`ve looked at other pictures you`ve posted. How you get that much detail at such a small scale is a skill indeed.

Many thanks both for your help. Onwards with the planking,

Best wishes, Jim.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Jim, at the scale you are working at it is well worth considering simulating, not just the riveting, but also the plate overlap, which would be noticeable. Ray's heavy paper works well to show the plate overlap but then, as he said, you have to add the rivets proud afterwards.

Another useful technique is to use a 'pounce' or 'ponce' wheel. I have used these on paper and air conditioning ducting silver sticky tape. In the pictures you can see the ponce wheel and the effects you can achieve by running it along a steel ruler on the edge of the piece you are making. I have used it a number of times to make canvas covers with using the ponce wheel to simulate the stitching runs.

This particular tug however was covered in printers litho plate, which is metal plate, thin enough to cut and thin enough to allow the rivets to be indented with a fine punch on the back of the plate and then thin enough to allow the overlap of the plate joint to show.

Interesting things to play around with.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Another thing worth thinking about for the later stages of the build when you get around to the deck plating is back to Ray's suggestion of heavy paper. For one model I covered the deck with paper deck plating but went around the edges with a sharpened piece of brass tube and gently tapped it to represent countersunk riveting, more common on decking to help reduce the trip hazard aspect.

The great advantage of this is the fact that, when painted with a deck colour the butt joints of the paper and the riveting take a wash perfectly and show up the detail very clearly. This is the test piece I played around with for this particular model and a bit of decking during construction and before and after it was given a wash.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Richard, thankyou for the suggestions and the pictures. The different ideas suggested make this more interesting the deeper into the build I will get,

The pictures you and Bob have posted certainly show what can be achieved,

Many thanks, Jim.

[Bob WilsonParticipant @bobwilson59101]

I glue the paper plating strips on with white Evo-Stik wood glue, applied with a brush. It can be thinned with water.

My models are so small that I don't bother with rivets, but I always plate them, even at 32 feet to 1 inch –

[Tony HadleyParticipant @tonyhadley]

A more simplified plating, is shown on Vic Smeed's 'Guardsman' in the attached thread.

**LINK**

I didn't simulate rivets on the hull but they were added to the cabins, #12 of the same thread.

Edited By Tony Hadley on 08/01/2023 10:24:25

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Bob, I can see why you don`t show rivets at that scale but the plating effect more than makes up for that. It certainly gives the model that used look about it which is what I`d like to achieve.

Tony, many thanks for your reply and the reference to your build of the Guardsman. Like the plating on Bobs model, it shows the added attraction of going that bit further to get a better looking result. I`m a fair way from plating yet but I`m already looking forward to trying the methods suggested.

Many thanks to you both,

Jim.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Bob's method is fine for smaller scales and I have used it for my 1:150 scale liner hulls but at larger scales, if you are going down that route, then you need to consider individual plates as Richard has suggested. The photo below of Vic 56 at Portsmouth gives an indication of the effect you need to aim for.

Colin

[Anthony StanceParticipant @anthonystance12355]

Richard is absolutely right when these are detailed and weathered they look absolutely gorgeous smoke noise so much character on the water with the bow breaking the water .Good luck with your build sir all the best Anthony 👍

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Colin,

Many thanks for posting that picture of the Vic 56. That is the sort of rough and ready look to the boat I would like to aim for. Good pictures are hard to find but that one is great.

Anthony, thankyou for your post. It had been on my mind to try and plate the hull, but wasn`t sure how it could be done, having not tried before. Then Bob asked the question and I`ve been lucky enough to have had some good suggestions posted to me. At the moment the planking is not a quick task as I do two, maybe four each session. I try and glue each evening so they dry overnight. I also pre drill the planks at each bulkhead to help when pinning them on. It`ll take a while but will gradually take shape.

Best wishes, Jim.

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