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[Neil]

And a final few from last night from printed pieces and vac formed parts.

[Neil]

This afternoon I took most of the injection moulded items off the sprues, assosiated myself with them all again and then put in to a small tuppaware box, ready for use and painting before adding to the boat hull.

It still to this day, astounds me that such a small model as this can incorporate so many different manufacturing procersses to produce a kit like this.

And I often wonder whether these processes and the cost of them all was in the end the kits demise and no longer available.

Perhaps one day it might be reintroduced using more modern techniques such as 3 D printing of most parts.  Would be nice to see.

Tonight I am going to assemble the mast.

[Cadser]

Your model looks great. What do you prep the surface with before painting if anything? 
I am starting a Sarik pilot 40 and would like to know. 
Bri

[Neil]

I use an etching primer first after giving the hull some final sanding with 240 and then 400 grade abrasive wet and dry, USED DRY only.
Once the etching primer has cured over a couple of days, it will get a coat of filler primer, and once cured, again over a couple of days the filler primer will be sanded down using 400 grade before the top coats.

the model in this photo which i bought ready painted has shed much of the paint as it was never primed, and much flaked off, and is why it is taking time to get ready for painting properly, but hopefully I have managed now to remove all that will come off of the old paint and this too will be sprayed at the same time as the new build, and not show any further decay, if the etching primer does as it says on the tin.

[Neil]

Didn't realise, it was only 6 days ago that I started building this model, and it is going together so easily and well.

This afternoon i put the two outboasrds together.........not a great demanding task but each little bit adds to the end game and finish.

May even get both done by the time the Blackpool show comes round in 2 weekends time

[Neil]

last bit for tonight is the main quad mast for the self righting air bag and the lights, radar deflecter and radio airial.
I am a little dubious about the structural integrity of this mast as it is from injection moulded plastic and not that which I have seen in previous kits that used Hipps type plastic which glued strongly as a structure.
However I have glued it together well and am going to leave it to set untill tomorrow night before touching it again............
If by then  it falls apart my  brazing torch will come out of hybernation and I  shall silver solder a mast together.

[KitS]

That injection moulded mast is a bit fragile, and I avoided gluing mine into the deck supports simply so I could remove it when transporting the boat to the lake.


I was a bit worried about snapping it off short if I had to make a crash stop en route, such are the drivers in these parts! 

[Neil]

its not now , kits, and here is how i strengthened it all.

[Neil]

Next was the lower to middle part where the lower cross members join the front and rear frames together. If I could think of a way of adding extra bracing to the two frames at that point, that would give extra strength to the whole frame work!
And so I googled photos of the 21 rib, and on numerous photos there at that specific point on at least 5 boats that I found was the boats name board, including the boat that I am building, Blackpools first boat "Spix's McCaw" strangely named after a parrot!? And so I made the name board and a backing board to span both down frames and gluing ti the cross member also..........and once set made a very rigid structure.
Finally for strength and integrity of it all I added the port/starboard light boxes also to span the legs and top cross members sealing the strength of it all..
Finally I fitted the brackets for the rear legs to the transom and drilled by hand small holes running vertically in to the foreward two main legs and added brass pins to keep the mast in place except for when transporting the model...
Finally I added the upper mast holding the main light and blue emergency lamp.
Only 1 thing to add now is the whip areal and possitioning of the radar deflecter.....That I shall do tonight.

[Colin Bishop]

Impressive build Neil. The Atlantic 21 is a very tricky subject as, unlike most models, it is all inside and outside. No place to hide!

Colin

[Neil]

Thanks Colin.

you are right Colin, in what you say about them.......possibly why so many are left half built.


I have never bothered with the insides though, as I always found the motor far too big and heavy, the prop shaft and tube far too long and intrusive with space being wasted and the last couple I built I  changed the steering linkages from wire to light nylon thread which allows you to put the rudder servo practically anywhere in the boat using a mini servo as well.

They are a lovely little boat to build, and this being my 10th over the years has allowed me to expertiment to get them as easy to build as I can.......but there's always something to do if another unbuilt or damaged one ever comes on the market.........bit of a sucker for them, to be honest, lol. 

[Neil]

Last thing tonight, or so I thought was going to be putting the guards on to the top covers of the outboards.
Sadly though, on the first cut of one of the U shaped guards, the  piece snapped in half being so old and brittle.
So that was it as to construction. Luckily I had the right length and diameter brass wire and so cut the pieces and shaped them using the plastic ones as a template.
Tomorrow I will get the old soldering iron out and soft solder the parts together, before fitting them.

[KitS]

So you're building this one just as a static model then, not as a runner?


If you didn't use the 540 motor that the kit's designed for, what was your alternative for the runners please?

[Neil]

It's going to be a runner, but waite and see.............not going to commit myself yet on this one.

In fact will be building them both as runners now that I have shortened the prop shaft on them to give more space in the hull!

There is always the scope for adaptation to an original design in a kit build, if one just thinks about things overall.

[Stavros!]

excuse my ignorance but what is  the lifeboat behind the 21,s


Stav

[Neil]

hi matey,
its an Oakley I aquired off a friend the other day, fully equipped with radio gear eccept batteries and TX.
But on lifting it the other day found it might be a little too heavy for me to plonk in to the water as I think it has quite a bit of fixed ballast  in the hull that I cannot see........but will be bringing it to Blackpool to show.

[Neil]

I'm not used to soft soldering anymore, as most of my soldering these days is using silver solder and a gas brazing torch, but I had to use soft solder on the small guage wire for the Outboard motor snorkal and exhaust outlet guards for both boats.
Took me a little longer to solder them, but all went well and have now fitted the guards to the new boat using cyano and pilot drill bit to possition them.
For the other reclamation boat I have two outboards in the garage, but ran out of the thinner brass wire to make the guards and so made them out of the next guage copper wire and these I ill attach when I can finde the outboards.
As Oates said to Scott........" I MIGHT BE GONE SOME TIME"

[Neil]

Well!!!, disaster struck this morning.

Needing 2 outboard motors for the second A 21 I went in search for my silicon moulds in the work shop only to spend 2 hours searching without results, and cannot understand where they have gone.......a nightmare as the only 2 I have got other than the two now on the new A21 that have the brass guards fitted and I dont want to start taking them apart, are two old ones that I glued together including gluing on the gearbox covers on the top of the motors.

Granted, the only option was to use these, but the problem is that the rod that goes through the "heart" of the motor body to attach the motor to the brackets on the transom is fet through the motor from the top where the geartbox cover covers them when fitted on once the motors are mounted. But I couldnt do this as the covers had been glued on long ago.

What to do!?..............I decided that I could use a slightly thinner diameter brass rod and drill the holes in the outboard on an angle first in two different directions and then use another drill bit and use my fingers to turn the bit until i cut through the inner plastic to the upper hollow.


Then I could drill the bottom half with my fingers to about 4mm depth in the botton hole. That would then allow me to fit the outboard to the bracket by feeding the rod in to the top hole enough to fit the motor in between the bracket jaws and then pull the fixing rod in to the bottom hole and just glue in at the bottom hole.

Actually to my amazment it worked quite well.
And so I fitted the guards in place and now sat pondering whether it would have been easier and quicker just to cut the top gear box cover off with a saw and fitted the rod in that way............might have a think about that one.

[Neil]

Was FAR too exhausted last night when I got home from CHRISTIES hospital (for the pre requisit blood tests for my 1 year check up from the neck up,) lol......which went well, and my god they look after you at Christies, wonderful, compassionate people one and all.
But the drive down to Manchester in the lashing down rain, [thought we had got the tail end of the US hurricaine before they got it], and stuck in a traffic log jam for over two hours I got there, 3.5 hours after setting off from Fleetwood, had my tests and then another 2 hours drive back home, again with wipers on double speed all the way home. Didnt see much of the traffic either way was on auto pilot in lane 1.

So began what I would have done last night this late morning..
That was to make 28 hand grabs for the sponsons, fit the outboards properly on both boats including a little modification to the old refit boat and then the foot "straps" for the crew on both boats, plus the storage bracket for the  emergency oars on the resto 21.

[Neil]

And its all the little fidly bits that take the time that are missingfrom the resto and even the kit, and rather take 20 minutes ir so looking for them its easier to make them from plasticard.

Here are the handles for the speed controls of the engines for both boats, the flashy ones for the old resto and the more modern boat using the utilitarian handles.

[Neil]

I spent most of the day adding small but important fittings that make up the whole of each of the two boats, so that hopefully by Monday i can at least get the etching primer on to the two models.

There are one or two that will be sprayed seperately and then probably hand paint them

[Neil]

Well, after my daughters heart felt plees for me togo and buy her some beige spray paint and tart up a desk top she had been given for her bedroom, I managed also to buy some paint for the boats.

The desk top took 3 hours to prepair and then paint a few coats before she could take it to her bedroom.........
The boats and acoutrements, had already been prepaired and took 20 minutes to spray the hulls undersides and all of the other bits.

Workshop now closed until tomorrow, I will spray the hull inners tomorrow, and then the next coat on then......the filler primer to cover any small scratches left by the sanding.
 
And then took 15 minutes to make 2 anchor rope stowage cleats for the two boats.

[Bibo]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/derbibo/sets/72157626968713066/[/size]I have taken the pictures by myself of the RNLI - B Serie - Atlantic 21 - B-531 - "Waveney Forester" roughly about 1985 in Gorleston / Great Yarmouth.At this time I have been a sailor and I have been visiting the RNLI Station.Best regards from Germany Bibo

[Neil]

Thanks for the photos you posted.

Unfortunately i got mixed up during the build and ended up posting the final parts of the build on the thread named another Barnett 51' build, here. 
https://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,70297.msg764805.html#new