My Clyde Puffer

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Chris,

The gaps on the edging of the card look huge but hopefully with a bit of careful filling I can improve the look. Much more care will be taken when getting back on the build. The good thing is, Puffer hulls were quite rough anyway so there is a certain amount of leeway to be had and with rubbing strips along the sides, that should help.

Jim.

[John GilliesParticipant @johngillies82143]

My sincerest condolences Jim.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Thank you John,

I`ve managed to get another sheet of card that I`d run out of so maybe in a couple of weeks or so I can start putting it to use. I`ve still to get a motor and speed controller etc for later in the build, but plating will be completed first. Looking forward to see how you get on with your Puffer.

Best wishes, Jim.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi all,

A little more progress on the plating. I`ve reached a point where I`m not sure what the next move is in regards to plating round the curve of the hull. I`ve looked at as many pictures as I can and apart from many of the boats having welded hulls, I`m not sure how plated hulls would progress. Pictures I`ve seen seem to show a diagonal fixing at the bow and stern but I`ve not found any pictures showing what happens in the centre section, meaning, would plating be wrapped around the curve vertically or narrower lengths lengthways…..if you see what I mean. Most pictures I`ve looked at show a fair old selection of plating, almost made to fit the particular place on the hull.

In the meantime I`ll draw some lines on the hull to give me some idea.

Jim.

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Plating is looking really good Jim.

Can't really help you with round the curves as Faireys don't have any!

Chris

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Thanks Chris,

You`re right, Faireys were smooth opreators. I think I have a plan for one from MAP somewhere. I might look it out one day. Always thought they were an attractive boat.

Jim.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Now that progress is being made again with my attempt at plating the Puffer hull I`m looking ahead at what I can use to seal the card.

I`m wondering if Ezi-cote would do the job never having used it before. I would need to use something really thin or I will lose the rivet detail, and with that in mind, the hull will have to be spray painted.

Hoping someone might have experience.

Many thanks, Jim.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I think EzeKote would be too thick in this instance. As you say, you need something really thin which will both seal and sink into the surface.

Glynn Guest uses card a lot in his models and swears by traditional model aircraft dope as a base for painting. It's what I would be inclined to use in this situation.

Another possibility would be shellac based sanding sealer.

Anything water based runs the risk of lifting the surface of the card.

Colin

[John W EParticipant @johnwe]

hi there

When I was building HMS Daring, I plated the hull using standard printers' paper – the one we use in our printers. I glued it on, using PVA glue and when it was all dried I sealed it using a waterproof PVA glue. I then sprayed over the top of it with Humbrol enamel paints. I ensured it was well sealed. One trick I did use was to pre-spray the card (before I used it) with a grey undercoat paint from Halfords. I found that this enabled me to handle the card better without it tearing, or, sticking to my fingers – just one side was sprayed of the card.

Couple of images follows

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Thankyou both Colin and John for your suggestions.

I`m not quite ready to seal the card just yet so will have time to experiment a bit.

I know what you mean about glue sticking to your fingers and then the card John,having suffered a bit of that already. The saving grace there is that the Puffer hull was quite rough so paint will probably hide most of the slightly rough bits.

I`ll see if I can find a model aircraft magazine to look for the dope unless someone like De Luxe do something similar.

Many thanks, Jim.

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

Hi Jim

SLEC do a non-shrinking dope that might be suitable?

Chris

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Cellulose dope is readily available such as from Howes models:

**LINK**l/

The SLEC dope is from Deluxe Materials is water based and might be OK but more expensive. Spirit based dope is thinner and will penetrate better but certainly run a rest on some spare card.

Just out of interest I am currently using EzeKote to apply gummed paper strip to my planked Greek fishing boat. I am after a smooth surface which evens out irregularities. Not the best option if you need to preserve rivet detail as Jim does where the more coats of whatever you apply will tend to hide the detail.

Colin

[Chris FellowsParticipant @chrisfellows72943]

The Deluxe Materials one is water based but I'm referring to the one from Phoenix Paints – they do shrinking and non-shrinking dopes and the thinners is cellulose which suggests that the dopes are.

I was thinking that the non-shrinking dope would be better for Jim's purpose rather than the more usual shrinking?

Chris

Edit: Checked their web-site and indeed is cellulose based.

 

Edited By Chris Fellows on 27/08/2023 21:04:55

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Thankyou Colin and Chris.

I had a look on line at some of the dopes that are around and the Guild product seems to be quite poular so it would probably be worth trying that out. It would be a fairly easy test to carry out and hopefully give a good result.

Be a shame to get it wrong, and later ,with the boat in the water, you suddenly find all the plating merrily trying to disown the hull.!

Jim.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Finally managed to get one side of the hull plated using card. Some of the butt joints weren`t perfect but I think careful use of filler should improve the look.

Now working to complete the other side. Once done, I can look at tydying everything up and start thinking about sealing it all.

Jim.

Edited By Colin Bishop on 10/09/2023 18:52:52

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

My attempt at card plating the Puffer hull is now complete. There needs to be some tidying up done before I get to seal it prior to painting. I`m going to plate the insides down to deck level, then the next step will be making the rudder and connecting it to the servo and marking the position of the mast.

I haven`t posted pictures as the completed hull looks no different really to pictures already posted.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

A little more progress today.

All the main plating has now been attempted. Because the card is white you can`t see much rivet detail, so I`m hoping when it`s painted the detail will be more noticeable. If not, I`ll have to re do the rivet detail using the method Neil suggested on his lifeboats.

The deck has been made to fit but won`t be glued in yet as there are things to mark out and it will be easier to do with the deck free. A motor, speed controller, dope to seal the card and batteries will be next to get. I think I said before, I`m looking at a 6v lead acid battery for power as it will help with ballast.

Once I`m happy with where things will go the next bit to make and fit will be the rudder.

Jim.

(Need to sort pictures out )

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

[Len Morris 2Participant @lenmorris2]

Hi Jim,

Looking like you're getting dangerously close to fitting out the internals!

I've used 6v lead acid gel cells for most of my model boats and your right, their weight does help with ballast weight. However more recently I've been looking at rechargeable lithium batteries, the power packs that people charge their mobiles from. They seem to have very high Amp hour ratings and are much smaller. I'm sure there will be some better people than me on this site to give you advice. Ballast is cheap and shouldn't be a concern.

It's a Puffer, so are you going to make it puff? As you're going electric I think you now have no end of options for sound effects and smoke up the chimney. I'm going to use steam on my puffer and as yet have no idea how to get a realistic beat on the engine.

Watching with great interest.

Len

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Only just looked at your hull Jim and am impressed! The riveting effect is great, perhaps a gloss finish for the final colour will allow you to see them a bit better.

A thinned down gloss oil paint would seal the card, and be compatable with other finishes. I have found dope tends to go very hard and slightly brittle in later years???

A 6v sla a good choice I reckon, as you need the weight for a start. Can’t remember what motor you have/are going to fit but it’s not going to be amp hungry and mostly you will be pottering about.

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 03/10/2023 09:20:31

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Thanks Ashley,

I`m very much a novice at this type of finish, never having tried plating before. I`m following Lens progress closely as we`re building the same model. I had`nt thought of trying thinned down gloss paint but I`ve plenty of off cuts I can try it on. To be honest I think my rivetting is more like the line you suggested it might be to Len, but I`m quite prepared to go over it with the suggestion Neil made on his lifeboats. I`ll see how the gloss paint works out with the current rivetted card.

The motor I have is an Mtroniks 600 and I was going to use their 40 speed controller.

Thanks for your suggestions,

Jim.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

I think Ive posted pictures but couldnt write any text with them. No room.

Obviously done something wrong.

Jim.

( This was the first attempt with the new system )

 

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Just noticed one picture is  showing out of three.  Jim.

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