Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Flags arrived for new tops and they are super. Just a few things to do now and then they need plumbing in to the hulls and tested for awesome firepower. Not that the 11 inch Dahlgren guns were especially powerful and in fact fairly useless as armour penetrators.

Ecranoplan on Sunday. No rushing off, so might bring a variety of boats down, perhaps the bumpers as well.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Ecranoplan going great. Bumpers super as usual. Took something else can’t remember what….old age creeping in.</p>
Finished gp2 hull top. Drew planking on in pencil as it looked very plain just painted. Stuck chains and bollards on, wave dodger on bow and then matt varnished it..thing is, the matt varnish started to smudge the pencil. But you know what. I rather liked it. At 1/200 scale the planking would have been very small, and the slight smudging made it look interesting. Might test them out next Sunday.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

New tops plumbed in and connected up, armament working (i can hear things whizzing round, anyway) and turrets turning menacingly. popping to the pond this morning for a test. Will likely consist of ballasting mostly, going to have to take a fair amount of lead.

P&o ferry was the other boat on Sunday. I may try a low power 540 in it. The speed 600 is a bit zoomy, but chosen as there are two props and a two foot long propshaft, however I am not sure I need the power. The ferry is quick on absolutely minimal throttle settings, and the extra power is wasted ultimately due to the hull shape.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>CSS Virginia and USS Monitor. In the flesh, sort of.</p>

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Disappointing response from uss Monitor centre who say they have no definitive answer on ship colours…but I could pay for a ‘deep dive’. Is it likely they have not looked at this…probably the first thing you would want to know?

I have done them in unreleived pound-land matt black, and think that’s what they would have been like? Opinions welcome.

Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Almost certainly black or very dark grey for Monitor, supported by:

https://www.quora.com/What-color-was-the-USS-Monitor

https://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/forums/71687/index.htm

Also:

CSS Virginia: Period descriptions say that she was black. However, this seems unlikely. She left her berth in a hurry (so quickly, according to one account, that not all gunport stoppers had been installed). An alternate description would have her the color of bare iron, already touched by rust. One theory holds that the “black” description may have to do with the initial color of her iron, which had been produced at Tredegar. Tredegar iron properly treated often had a black appearance, which faded quickly. RaS believes she was medium grey: this would match, incidentally, with period descriptions of the ship as being “black”, since both colors are easily confused, particularly at a distance.

Online queries indicate that Monitor might have been red below the waterline.

Search on ‘what colour was USS Monitor.’

Vallejo Model Color Acrylics do a colour called ‘Oily Steel’  No. 70.865 which I have and looks very effective. Maybe this and black to pick out any detail etc?

Colin

 

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Thanks for that Colin, and basically what I found as well.</p>

<li style=”text-align: left;”>Unfortunately greys in rattle cans are almost all metallic from Halfords although someone said the Poundland undercoat was very dark. As for picking out detail, there’s not much detail on the boats!
<li style=”text-align: left;”>The matt black looks very smart and does not make the boats dissappear as I thought when on the pond. I will go with black and not clean them and they will ‘self payinate’ after a while. Not sure that rust weathering would be appropriate as both vessels were newish at the time.
• The red oxide collar on the maritime centre Monitor replica I am sure is for the look only. No doubt the actual underside may have been red, but the collar surely would be black for camouflage if nothing else?
• I struggled to fit enough lead in the hulls to sink them deep enough so on the basis that I always have some ballast in the boats. I will stick another strip of lead to each of the hulls existing lead keels and this will minimise extra internal ballast.
• Made a box for the Monitor top.. 27×6.5×4 inches. Very compact. Virginia box today. Probably about 38 inches long.
• Intergalactic forces were at work on Sunday scuppering a saucer demonstration. On investigation it looked like Klingon spies had damaged the ESC (electro-sonic combustor,) so I have replaced it with a reverse only partially broken Mtronics one (the pump only works one way so not an issue) from an Orion scout cruiser.
• Resistance is futile!
• Ashley

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I think black is fine Ashley.

Colin

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ashley,

Are the CSS crew weeing simultaniously  ??  🙂

Or is it a Fire Boat ?

Regards Ray

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

They are OBVIOUSLY hosing out the barrels to remove gunpowder residue….

Ashley

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Naw! You tie a rope to the tail of the ship’s cat and pull it through the barrel to do that!

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

So what sort of a cat do you need to clean out the funnel…..?

Colin

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Did I ever tell you the story of the seagull in the funnel?

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

No, but I imagine it had its chips…

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Afraid Richard that they had muzzle loaders so were unable to pull cats through the barrel.

Instead they pulled the guns in, emptied water into them, ran them out and tipped the water out…just like the photo. Obvs…

Got all the Egham show stuff together today including a trial run of the diorama. Just as well as the Mrs thought the yellow cloth beach looked a but like a yellow cloth over some builders foam…BUT the addition of some gravel spread artistically over the beach worked wonders, and what with the fake barbed wire and fake beach obstacles now looks like…yellow cloth with stones on!!!

Not taking bumpers this time, no room in the car… just landers and the ferry (converted lander) which is likely what I will.play with in the pool.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

However, the Egham Royal show website, under the “models” section, it says there will be a pool outside and there might be boats for the public to try out….and…there’s a picture of the pool with bumpers on it!!

I may just take one bumper down, no extra tops …no Daleks or anything, just one box with boat and top in it. Could squeeze that in.

Everything has been stacked up and batts charged. I will take the big LcT down, it can sit lengthways in the car on top of lander boxes. Hopefully we will have an extra table to put it on. Need so e sort of day anniversary sign so everyone knows what the diorama represents.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Car is packed solid.

One big lct, 4 landers, 1 ferry, 1 battleship and 1 bumper. Foam for beach diorama, gun emplacement, cliff section, box of cloth  for the tables…bag of rc gear, box of tools.  Big lct sits on top of 5 lander boxes to minimise boot floor area. Beach foam de-bagged to fit nicely in. Tools and cliff behind seats.

Just lunch to put in on Saturday  and were off!

Ashley

[Richard SimpsonParticipant @richardsimpson88330]

Hope you avoid the wind, we’re getting quite a battering at the moment.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

I have been on the Sussex coast today, a very strong onshore gale but sunny and warm.

Forecast for Egham tomorrow is not good, Sunday better.

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

very wet today. Loads of drips on the tables. Very few visitors. Diorama looked good. Trevor and I filled the tables nicely.

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

How did day 2 go Ashley?

Colin

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Luvvly weather, loads of visitors. I got there early to rejig the cloths for better coverage. Just me and trev. They took away one table as there was some argy barge regarding the Kempton steam stand and the lifeboat one but it didn’t make much difference to us as the door end table yesterday was soaking wet and unusable.

No wins for best boat or stand. We was robbed.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ok. Help needed.

I am after information on a Vernon models “Skid boat”, especially ially the plan that came with it, for reasons unspecified.

A curious thing, a tethered line free runner.

Some info on the ‘net but the instructions that came with it and plan would get greatly appreciated. Not aftr an original…scans great.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

It never fails to amaze me how the next project materialises out of thin air!

Tuesdays show’n’tell with Trevor has yielded a magnificent result, all from the tiniest of drawings in an advert in an old model boat mag ( think it was another publication current at the time) .

We mulled over. Cogitated, did some Google research and then got the sketch pad out. I can safely say that we virtually built the thing in the afternoon, mulling over construction, “special features” , practicalities and materials.

More info needed just for originality, but I think we have some artistic licence. It will be a two-boat build as we have different ideas in some areas and in any case  the original won’t have been outfitted or finished the same by bods at the time anyway.

No boating for me Sunday as away in Folkstone.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

In Portsmouth  Historic Dockyard this afternoon.

Had a coffee overlooking this. Not bad.

Ashley

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