Trying to identify my boat?

[M HarveyParticipant @mharvey34888]

I have recently acquired this metal hulled boat and was wondering if anyone might know anything about it?

<https://artofceramics.squarespace.com/modelboat/&gt;

[M HarveyParticipant @mharvey34888]

Identifying my new boat…?

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Have you got the correct URL ? This one looks like garbage to me…

Perhaps try and post a photo or two….you'll need to set-up an "Album" first (see the grey band above with the little camera icon alongside).

Good hunting,

Dave C

[M HarveyParticipant @mharvey34888]

It is actually my website, but I will upload to an Album as you suggest.

Michael

[M HarveyParticipant @mharvey34888]

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

It could be any small freighter of the post war period – assuming it is based on a full sizd ship.

The design is reminiscent of the small passenger cargo ships employed on inter island services etc. in the Far East but that's only a guess.

Colin

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

Apologies if I insulted your website Michael, but, I do get a lot of broken links and non-working URL's sent to me (20-odd years in IT doesn't help !).

As for the boat – not a clue. I can only assume that as it's metal hulled it may be intended as some form of artistic piece ?

Best regards,

Dave

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

The link worked OK!

Colin

[M HarveyParticipant @mharvey34888]

I thought it might be for display too, except on opening her up there was a servo fro the rudder, a torpedo 800 motor for the prop and having connected a new transmitter, it all works… I'm looking to re-paint her and get some decals. Any idea on a good source of decals?

Michael

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Unless one is trained as a tinsmith, it is very hard to get the acute curves of a ships counter at that size and as such you will always get a "naive" renditioning of the curvature of a plated hull, as "shell plates" are cut to shape to fit the ships frames.

And when laid down on a flat sheet, they will look like the image below.

and this, with a flat piece of tin/metal is very very hard to do in 3d………thus the bulbous shape of the stern.

However, this is seldom seen when in the water, and who ever made it, made a lovely jb of the superstructure, and should look lovely on the water.

it was probably built from photos rather than plans by a very capable craftsman, but as Colin says, could be made from photos of any number of ships, and so this is an advantage for you…..name it after anyone or any thing you want, as then, those dreaded persons i have little time for……….the "rivet counter", will have nothing to gripe about and tell you that you are wrong.

as long as it pleases you, that is all that matters.

good luck sailing it……….and the last thing i might say is………….it would look and go lovely with a live steam plant in it.

the shell plate diagramme.

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

Posted by M Harvey on 28/04/2021 18:46:01:

I thought it might be for display too, except on opening her up there was a servo fro the rudder, a torpedo 800 motor for the prop and having connected a new transmitter, it all works… I'm looking to re-paint her and get some decals. Any idea on a good source of decals?

Michael

for decals go to BECC ………..google them.

[M HarveyParticipant @mharvey34888]

Thank you Neil.

That image of the shell expansion is fascinating.

Having done a little more cleaning yesterday, I think the metal plates are a silvery metal. It is thin and quite malleable, albeit I dcannot say what it is off the top of my head… here are some more pictures to help.

[M HarveyParticipant @mharvey34888]

I've managed to get the majority of the filler off and I'm now asking myself, do I carry on and remove all the black paint?

It certainly would look amazing in the metallic finish, but I'm assuming it would never be water tight?

Michael

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Fabulous detail on those hull plates I must say!

Personally I would use paint stripper and remove the black paint, as it will inevitably be masking corrosion.

A light wire-wooling of the rusty bits (but not removing tin plating if it was tin plate) afterwards followed by red oxide paint should preserve the hull for eons.

If not longer..

Ashley

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

That riveting is marvellous and must have taken forever ? I think it maybe its galvanised/plated steel sheet with brass rivets, I don't think tin plate would have stood up to all the hammering etc. Model engineers used plated steel in the 1940's & 50's as I imagine brass sheet was hard to come by ?

Polyester resin sloshed about inside the hull a couple of times should cure your leaks.

Regards Ray

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

I remember tin plate being discussed widely as a boat building material from '50's magazines. Most preserved food came in the source material back then, and for larger sheets, so did motor oil. A quick way to check is a magnet – if it sticks, there is steel in there. If not, and the metal is "silvery", aluminium or one of its alloys. Old Litho plate? It used to be a fairly common modelling material back when printing was printing involving metal and etching rather than ink being squirted in a pattern direct to paper.

But if there is any rust, there must be steel involved.

As Ray suggests, resin sloshed around the inside. I would just add that adding sticky tape to the outside first will stop any leaking resin from marring the outside and creating the work of removing it.

[M HarveyParticipant @mharvey34888]

I can report back that the metal hull is not at all magnetic… so what does that indicate?

M

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi Michael,

Looks like corrosion won't be an issue you have got yourself an aluminium hull should last forever.

Regards Ray

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

Posted by M Harvey on 02/05/2021 14:07:19:

I can report back that the metal hull is not at all magnetic… so what does that indicate?

M

As said earlier, aluminium or nickel silver. Litho plate was fairly available back in the day and was an aluminium alloy. Any sight of printed image on unpainted surfaces would give the game away.

Aluminium needs its own special soldering techniques, nickel silver, being white brass, responds well to more basic soldering.

[Keith LongParticipant @keithlong89920]

I wonder if zinc sheet might be another possibility especially if the original builder had any connection with the roofing or building trades?

[Dave Cooper 6Participant @davecooper6]

A few further thoughts :

1. Aluminium does corrode, although it is different from 'ferrous' metal corrosion. My experience is based on Fleet Air Arm aircraft operating in salt water environments and on racing cars of the 60's and 70's era with aluminium monocoques (similar to a metal boat hull actually).

2. The corrosion is a sort of white-ish /grey appearance. In the navy, we used "yellow chromate" to treat and protect. Best to watch out for dissimilar metal corrosion (galvanic) too. You can use "Di-chromate Paste" to form a good separating layer. An application here would be a steel fitting passing through an aluminium plate for instance.

3. For a patch panel repair, have a look at "Lumiweld". It is rather like 'low-tech brazing' and has had very good reviews (although I've yet to use it….). If you Google the name, the UK supplier should come up and they do a hobby-style kit with instructions.

Dave

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