Todays Boating

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Me neither, weathers going to be rubbish.

Ricky ye pirate

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

Very glad to hear that Ashley's op went well.

The weather was as predicted not great. However in a break in the rain about 10am the boys insisted on going to Bushy park – mainly so that William could use his new boat trailer:

The trailer worked a treat, but the boat itself didn't do so well and spent most of the time picking up leaves.

Then Eddie's yellow speedboat lost half its prop, which blunted performance somewhat.

Not to be left out, my blue speedboat kept taking on water and generally getting saturated and shorting.
Worked out it is coming in under the deck lip from the bow wave. The wave is excessive because the trim tabs a pushing the bow down far too much, so they have now been adjusted.

Finally I then gave the foiling jet speedboat a go, but this was just appalling so I bent all the foils up, upon which it went like absolute stink – so sod the foils I'm going to take them off.

Didn't bother with anything else as it started raining again.

Here's a picture from last week with Richard's excellent portable dock.

[Boiler BriParticipant @boilerbri]

No boating here either. Or steaming. Glad I decided to decorate the main bedroom. Weather been just right for it. 😂

That should be finished tomorrow so back to the modelling later on it the week. The monsoon yacht I bought has yet to see water. As soon as it does I will post.

Happy modelling. Bri

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Noel,

Love the boat trailer, need a ramp now to back onto for some launching action! (I’m not making one, need all my spare ply for my winter project.)

Ricky ye pirate

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Yes, a bit of cold weather soon puts a stop to paint and glue dying. Sundays weather was terrible.

Dock as above and very handy. Suggestions for improvements were various….a model RM band with sound, working dockside cranes, row of mermaid… and so on. Richard does intends to put a working lighthouse at the end though.

Doing sails for the London. Using PVA to stop the edges fraying but wondering if Hi-Tack glue would be better (sold at fabric shops for fabric work). Looking sail-like if nothing else! Painting the decks now and wondering what to do about detailing the bulwark innards. Trouble is at this small scale its difficult to put anything on that does not look clumsy, and even cannon balls at this size (about 1/72) would be tiny tiny things. I may be able to make some belaying pin rails or?? what??

Decoration of the prow, and I am going with artistic licence concerning the white bands sweeping up the prow. Illustrations in my book "before the ironclad" by D K Brown show various styles, and of course they are only illustrations, artists impressions, and very few pictures. I am also considering that mostly we would be looking down on the ship, and not horizontally at it ((as you would mostly/always with a full size one) and this affects the line of stripes and so on due to stepping at the peak. A figurehead is another thing.

The London had a boring clothed woman with a "tower of London" as a hat…no chance in finding that…esp. as needs to be an inch or less!! In fact female figures are not that easy to come by. CMB has a naked female figurehead but at 45mm long will it cut down sufficiently??? Alternatively I leave it off….. or I have found some small brass buttons with heraldic type patterns on that might make a good plaque…as per the Victory.

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Ashley,

Check out costume jewellery blanks, some of them can be quite intricate and the metal is usually soft enough to be bent to the shape required.

I had a box of broach and ear ring backings which sadly is mostly gone now, the back of the Galleon used up what I had left.

Will bring some odds and ends down next time your around.

Ricky ye pirate

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Good call Richard. I like thinking laterally. The bead shop is a useful source of galleon decoration and rigging supplies!

Made some templates for the ratlines. Nothing fancy, card marked in pencil and adjusted so that one will do both sides (yes obviously both sides should be identical, well they are almost). Next stop will be a bit of drawing on a board and bashing a few pins in. Tread spacing problematic: need the least treads for ease of construction but at the same time looking about right….

Note this does not mean anything else has been finished!! I am nibbling away on all fronts at the moment.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Remind me knot to make anything with sails ever again! Sails are looking good and are gradually being bent on to the masts, sorry…YARDS as strictly speaking that's where they are tied to. The chosen method of sail making appears to be adequate and so far they look good sitting in the front room. loads more to do…any amount of knot tying and so on. Having a rest while the glue dries that is making sure the knots do not come undone!

Although the hull and decks are substantially fully painted, there is any amount of touching up to do which always takes ages. As usual getting a sharp and continuous flowing line between deck and bulwarks will be testing and I am not sure about the deck colour. I was going to use a pale cream colour as decks of this sort were usually pale due to all that washing and wotnot, but there was not enough contrast between the white bulwarks and the deck, so I have used a "natural wood" colour.

I think at this period I should be using a chain on the anchor rather than rope, and this hangs much more realistically then thick string does on a model. Also the gun ports, my drawing shows cupboard doors however I think this is a rendition of the windows fitted later on when it was a depot ship, and I should use the normal lids. As usual the size lid in need sits between commercially made items (which would have been easy) so I will have the faff of making dozens and dozens of these things. Such is life.

Ashley

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Ashley,

You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words, go on let's have a look at the London

Regards Ray

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

You have made rod for own back with rigging on a small scale, mind you it’s not a lot better even on a big scale!

My method was to do a bit and then walk away to do something else then go back otherwise it’ll do yer noggin in.

Ricky ye pirate

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Ah Ray you little devil. As this is a secret project I will give a little taster later on, I don't want to give the game away just yet, incorporating as it does some novel features )mail sent).

As usual anyone who wants a peep can have one via a mail, its not THAT secret.

At this small scale you can take slightly more liberties with the rigging as shown by my novel use of alternative components in said rigging, but as the masts have to be de-mountable this constrains the mass of string somewhat,.

Last night I attached the sails to the yards using probably less bits of rope than would be proper, but It give the right impression. As the masts not only de=mount but swivel, the fore mainsail stays will have to move and cannot be fixed, something I will think about. Several possibilities, for instance extending the moveable arms under the deck that twist the masts and attach the lines on them, or just possibly have some weights (thick solder wire) on the ends…drop these through holes in the deck and let the weight keep the sail in trim?? at this small size (about 8 inches by 12 this sail) it may work….actually, worth a try out first as it would be very easy to do.

Painted the main deck before I went to bed (yes really) and can now consider what to put on deck. I carried out a similar exercise on project V and discovered that although the plan looks a bit daunting with any number of things on deck, once you actually identify these bits and make crude approximations of them to get some idea and place them roughly in position , there is less than you think.

I have no proper deck plan or even a picture for the London, so will equip it to a sort of period approximation, which will be ok.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well. All 74 odd gun port hatches have been cut up, sanded, had bits of strip card stuck on, painted and finally glued to the hull (on one side only).

Wow. What a difference! It looks fantastic now. Forgot the hull side door and have just fiddled with some more ply to make a pair.

I have a pencil sharpener cannon, one of those novelty things and I painted the carriage in yellow ochre and it looks surprisingly good, and goes well with my 1/32 Nelsons navy figures. The actual barrel is 75mm long. I had it perched on something the other day and thought…no, way to big…BUT having dug out my HMS Warrior book, found that to the same scale as the thing on which the cannon looked too big, the 68Pdr it was equipped with had a scale barrel of 71mm in length. Cor. The carriage is not the right style, however it dismantles and could easily be modified to suit, the original at this date would have been on a slide. Result really at a fiver.

The Warrior book also has a lot of detail drawings, and the anchor arrangement appears to be the same as the London, ie a cathead and a little plate to rest the anchor flute on. What I didn't know is how the anchor was fixed on, but it is as easy as a hook on the cathead at the stock end and a little strop holding one fluke up on the rest via a small port in the hull and a bollard. I can do that easily enough and it will be pukka and not invisibly held on with scale superglue….

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Sounds like your cracking on with London, can’t wait to see it in all it’s glory!

Started my winter project the Dying Gull a single masted sloop, got a fair way with the hull. Am planking it with some stiff cardboard which will then be fiberglassed over with the glass cloth. With the cardboard being quite porous it should soak up the resin and set like concrete, we hope! I’m very partial to a stiff hull, oooh matron!

Ricky ye pirate

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Stiff card. Great idea, and cheap to. As I have said before, you can make hulls out of anything really, even man-made board..

Laid "stuff" on the London deck to see what needs to be made and/or purchased etc. Inner bulwark sides I have decided to stick some 2.5mm sq strips of wood, painted yellow ochre, inside. These will represent belaying stations or whathaveyou and should look ok whilst adding colour.

This afternoon I need to tackle the ratlines, make a pin board and so on. A daunting job and the pack of panel pins I bought especially for the job may not have sufficient in it for this task. I have other pins or 1" nails I suppose. Spacings for the footings yet to be decided….scale(ish) or "for effect". The scale amount of footings is LOADS and LOADS, and I can see I might lose trhe will to live before actually completing them, but we will see.

Gun port covers both sides on now, considering options for deck armamanent, ie big swivel guns. The races for these would look trick, and easily achieved by using a silver felt tip pen. I have used these before, and they sort of ooze paint, very effective. BUT did they have racers at this time?? More research.

I may pop to the pond in a minute via public transport, minus a boat, just to harangue the chaps a bit.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Well, popped to Bushy by buss, no boat. Fair selection of craft on the water.

Trevor trialed `the beast` once more, with a restrictor in place and we didn't think there was much in it however there appeared to be some cavitation…well not cavitation as such, but air being sucked into the wake. We mulled over several options for tinkering, as usual.

After (had a lift back) we discussed the London, as there are several unresolved issues to deal with. It is always nice to have another viewpoint, however wild or whacky (not that these were wild or whacky, unusually).

We also mulled over another project, and the more we thought about it, the more `do-able` it appeared to be. It all stemmed from Richards singing Pirates, although this one will go several steps further….

Xmas is approaching so top tip….look out for all those battery powered Led light items, very useful, flashing multicolour ones…who knows what they could be used for????

Ashley

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Sounds like Ashley’s brain cells are on overdrive again, maybe it’s the medication?

I had a sneak preview of the London and it looks brill, can’t wait to see it on the water. He’s got to do an article for Model Boats on it.

Went to the Fiberglass shop in Brentford this morning and purchased 2 meters of fine weave cloth + resin and hardener, very helpful there and didn’t give me a funny look when I explained about my cardboard hull. Just finished slapping on the first layer, will see how hard it is then decide weather to do another coat.

Have posted some pictures in my album.

Ricky ye pirate (superglue and resin fingers)

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hmm… I MAY do an article on it, especially as it is radically different to what's expected (as one might expect). I am very excited that my vision has come together as envisaged.

Richard, looking good (and the boat). Top tip…get a box of 100 latex gloves. V handy esp. when using resin.

We can add cardboard to hardboard on the list of acceptable construction materials.
, if you only knew the stick I get from admitting to use superior man-made board….

Will explain to all regarding new new project on Sunday. Looking at railway figures at the moment….

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Having sown the seed I have left plenty of scope for silly suggestions for Ashleys next build.

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

Having had a peek at London, Ashley's Mr Innovation to all his creations, very inspired

Regards Ray

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Railway figures are a good source for us boatie people, station masters make good captains etc. Always think outside the box!

How about Santa’s jet ski?

Ray you won’t be disappointed,

Ricky ye pirate

PS.many latex gloves were used with sweaty hands as a result.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Various size figures ordered. Some 1/100 railway workers among them. A few of the poses are climbing ladders, which might be good for ratlines.

Project D is firming up, actually its a list as yet, of stuff to look for and consider for inclusion in the build. It has no priority….London and Project V are "to do" first, but thoughts must turn to what's after this lot.

I have a folder on the PC desktop labelled "project D" (its not actually, but that would give the game away) and into this is being pasted various photos, a word doc with items in it, and associated matter. The contents of this folder will make you all cringe, unless you were In the Navy , but it wont deter me!!

Making ratlines now. Not as difficult as envisaged, but slow. False start as the light brown thread used for the sails must be manmade as it wont take PVA glue, so some white cotton thread has been substituted and actually this looks very good, being bright and making the ratlines visible. Several things on the boat are going to be the wrong colour, otherwise the detail will disappear.

Ashley. Subtle, moi??

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

All the rat lines on the Galleon were sealed with superglue, it takes the time out of what is a tedious job and it sticks anything including fingers. Keep at it it’s worth it in the end, there’s nothing like a nicely fettled ratline!

Ricky ye pirate

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

It looks like the PVA and cotton/linen thread is working well, three lots done now and everything's holding up ok. The PVA stiffens the ratlines up nicely so they will not sag over time.

Anchors now in place and hooked/tied on as per the Warrior. Need to tackle the deck ephemera now, after sticking magnets in place to hold the deck down (single bit of ply, is slightly warped).

I may varnish the hull black and white with matt clear varnish in order to protect the gun port hatches, as they are ply and PVA`d in place. Above the waterline in theory but bound to get wet.

I also now have a hat, for its maiden voyage (whenever)….

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Project D is attracting some interest now. The novelty of it and the endless possibilities has got several people thinking. It is one of those things that once someone mentions it, you keep on thinking of it and having ideas.

It will not appeal to everyone of course, in fact…..

Ashley

Edited By ashley needham on 26/10/2018 17:01:15

[Richard BarnettParticipant @richardbarnett67129]

Dodging the odd rain shower I managed to fill and smooth down the Dying Gull’s hull which as hoped has gone off like concrete.

I’ve resigned the inside as well to seal up the cardboard which again has stiffened it considerably, happy days!

Ricky ye pirate

Pictures in album.

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