Returning modeller

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

James, don't buy wood in Hobbycraft – they charge and arm and a leg for it and the selection is not usually extensive either. Check out the SLEC website. Their wood is top quality and comes in all shapes and sizes so you can get exactly what you need. They pack it really well too. For hull construction medium grade balsa is best.

**LINK**

There are of course other online suppliers but SLEC are definitely one of the best.

Everyone has their own glue preferences but for wood I rely on Deluxe Aliphatic and Superphatic. Both are waterproof and Superphatic will stick other materials to wood.

**LINK**

Colin

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Jim,

With the price of balsa these days from anywhere being so high I'd seriously look at Styrofoam block/sheet as an alternative, I think both Ashley and I get ours from 4D models in London comes in 2" sheets and carves and sands well and glass covered is very tough & strong

I use Gorilla glue for everything these days balsa & ply

Regards Ray

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Ray,

First off, thankyou for the offer of the modern Clyde puffer, very kind of you, but I think I`m going to stick with the older one for now to see what I can achieve.

I see what you mean about the block modelling from your picture. A nice looking hull. I thought about using a similar method to the one Neil used when making his lifeboat mould and blocking between frames, but just proud to allow for sanding.

On the subject of rivets for your Hurricane , there is a company that produces strips of stick on rivets ( not sure of the sizes) that railway modellers use when simulating rivets on girder work. pictures I`ve seen look very convincing.

Regards, Jim.

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Hi Jim,

You asked about glues :-

I use De Luxe Aliphatic for general hull work (Plank-on-Frame) and for solid blocks – bow and stern. It has reasonable working time, is strong when set and sands easily.

For 'non-sanding' areas I use bog-standard PVA (I've not tried Gorilla yet but, if Ray uses it you could give it a go, I think I've seen it in Wilco's /Poundland etc.).

For mixed material work eg plastic-to-wood, I use De Luxe 2-pack. It's quite pricey at around £20. It states "4 Minutes" on the bottles but I find it's usable up to about 15 mins after a mix….Long(ish) shelf life at room temperatures.

Bread and Butter – I've not used it except for small static models. There are two types – Vertical and Horizontal. Have a look at the plans and 'lines drawings' as the design may be better suited to one method over the other. If in doubt, I would probably use Aliphatic for this too…

Regards,

Dave

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hello Jim,

Sorry I never did answer your question about the Cigarette lettering I made a card stencil from a photocopy and pasted on and cut out which I then used a felt pen to draw the around the lettering , then hand painted it rather badly I'm afraid !! 2 coats of Humbrol gloss.

Somebody a while back sent me really nice Cigarette he had built from the drawing and had professional name stickers made, needless to say it looked brilliant

Keep us posted with your puffer build, you will have to have a steam effect up the funnel good one in the latest mag !

Regards Ray

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Colin, Dave and Ray,

Many thanks for all your suggestions.

Colin, I`ll give Hobbycraft a miss regarding the balsa. Ray also suggested styrafoam block and sheet so that will be worth a look as well. I need to wait till the plan arrives to see the best size to get in which ever material, A continuing learning curve for me.

Dave, thankyou for your help. I`ve not tried any of the De Luxe adhesives yet but have used some of their other products and found them excellent, ( on the model railway side ). On Gorilla glues, they do a waterproof one which is good but you have to make sure you wipe off any excess as it expands while drying and then could give you problems.

Ray, Thanks for posting that side shot of the Cigarette. You`ve shown what I thought wasn`t quite right with mine in that I need to make the white discs bigger. The lettering I traced off your plan using greaseproof paper , but I need to have another go using, as you suggested, card. My greasproof paper tracing out wasn`t too bad but on a test try, it bled out with no sharp edge. I`ve a good selection of brushes but I think I need a really small fine point to get the lettering decent. I`d be pleased if I got somewhere near what you managed.

Regards, Jim.

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Hi Jim – for your "Cigarette" artwork, there's a guy called Andy Schafer who does fabulous multi-layer, vinyl graphics.

A lot of the scale jet and sailplane guys use him. His work is second-to-none. He did my "Achilles", Capstan's Welsh Dragon (Cambria) and the logo for my sports racing car (which uses the Greek letter "Chi&quot.

I think he's based in Hampshire and I have his email /invoice somewhere (very reasonable on price too !). You can send him a photo, drawing or even a description and he can work from that….he'll give you 'proofs' first.

Let me know if you're interested and I'll dig out his contact details for you.

Dave

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Dave,

Thankyou for the information regarding the Cigarette artwork. At the moment I`m determined to see if I can get a decent result but if all else fails and it ends up a mess then I`ll bare in mind what you`ve posted.

Not a lot left to do on it now, then it will be a bath test and look for a driver.

Thanks once again,

Jim.

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

It is possible to get vinyl lettering custom made in style and size from many suppliers on the well known auction site.

For not much money you can ensure a good finish.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Thanks Trevor,

I used ready made lettering on the Pilot boat mainly because some of it was so big any errors would have looked pretty dreadful but some smaller types you can get away with by hand. It`s a challenge.

Jim.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Thanks Ray for making the plan available. Hope I`ve done it justice. It was certainly good fun to build.

On now to the Puffer build on the scratchbuild section.

Jim.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

That's a lovely clean example Jim, congratulations. Has she got her bum wet yet?

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Richard,

Thankyou for the comment. No, I haven`t managed to get near the water just yet. Hopefully it won`t be too long but until then I just carry on building. Not at the rate that Ray does though!, I`d run out of room to store them.

Jim.

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Don't worry Jim, none of us build at the rate Ray does!

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hello Jim,

The Cigarette looks great much better than my prototype !! It's one of my favourites to put in the car so If there is no wind for sailing I can bomb round the lake.

I have thought I might go brushless with mine, but most of the brushless boats at my club lake are like guided missiles and a danger to themselves and others

I like the diversity of your builds, Pilot Boat, Cigarette and now the Puffer, there must be a sailing boat coming up soon ??

Kind Regards Ray

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Hi Ray,

A sailing boat would just about complete the set. I had plans for a small yacht years ago but I lost it. I`m sure it came from the MAPplans book. I`ll have have another look to see what I can find that`s not too taxing to build.

I`ve still to sort out the Marblehead that I have. I`ve already got the wood to rebuild the internals but asking questions with the MYA didn`t really get me anywhere other than it looks to be pre 1985. I see from your posts that you`ve got yourself another oneI`ve been following your latest scratch build. It`s going to be a nice model when it`s complete, at your build rate, probably next month

Best wishes, Jim.

[James Hill 5Participant @jameshill5]

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a good New Year.

Many thanks to all who have given me advice over the year. Look forward to continued conversations next year.

Best wishes ,

Jim.

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