Whilst at the Warwick show in November 2002, I was informed that the boat
was not a Cygnus Seafish 38, as I initially thought, I did have a doubt
about one or two of the dimensions of the model hull compared to
dimensions/ drawings from the original boat builders, I did put some of
these differences down to the fact I was enlarging the drawings over 20
times their original size on a photocopier- there was bound to be some
error....... But I was informed the bow has the wrong ' outline' to
be a cygnus boat!
The gentleman could not tell me what type of boat he thought it was- but
just that the bow was 'wrong'...... When the boat is matched with the
drawing the bow is pretty much spot on, if anything it's the subtle curves
both at the stern and on the foredeck that are 'out', anyway, the boat is
now a mystery........
As you can see the boat ( whatever it is now !) is coming along, the deck
is now in place, it still needs some work and some paint, the rear deck
hatch is now fabricated, the rear net drum and trawl frame is now
fabricated , and just needs to be painted and bonded in place. (There is
still a bulkhead and a watertight door to be made and some ladder rungs to
be added ( this gives access to the raised foredeck from the rear deck
area ) this is only really visible when looking from the stern towards
the bow.
The new enclosed radar and some light mounts are all now fabricated and
bonded onto the main mast, this mast is removable and fits into the
fabricated sleeve that is mounted on the wheelhouse roof. The actual light
fittings are from
Bow Wave models, these are ready to be fitted to the mast in the
near future. Towards the rear of the wheelhouse the exhaust cowling and
exhaust are now in place, along with carburettor inlet pipe, the
handrails, and the boat hook - these are now done, and have been initially
weathered. There is still a step and some deck and panel type vents to be
added to the rear of the wheelhouse under the base of the door, these I am
making from Plasticard....The lobster pots (8 in total) are all fabricated
and the fish boxes ( 22 in total ) are all made and have been weathered.
The next job is to make some 'Catch'. I will have a go at making some
lobsters and fish one evening !
On to the hull....The freeing ports are cut out, The next major task is to
a final rub down on the hull, and get some paint onto her, currently the
hull is in several states of preparation, some areas have primer on, other
areas
don't ! - this I hope to do in early February once all the filling and
rubbing down is done, there are still some imperfections to be dealt with
........
The wheelhouse now has a false floor ( painted black) , and a helmsman at
the helm along with various bits of kit, such as the ships wheel, the
throttles, the fish finder, the GPS, the VHF radio, a Radar head up display
and the sat navigation controls and displays, the majority of these are
the
excellent fittings from
Bow Wave Models/ Cap Maquettes.
I have started to weather the wheelhouse , but with the majority of this
boat -the main components are made from composite materials, so there is
not loads of rust , just a bit where steel fittings and frameworks are
mounted, plus some ' sea grime' on the windows and on the wheelhouse
generally, I am not a big weathering man, but having said that ultra clean
trawlers, don't exist.....so I want the boat to look used, but not a rusty
old wreck..... The mast still needs to be wired up - with all the working
lamps and all the deck lamps a separate lighting circuit needs to be
installed. Most lamps are now fitted with miniature bulbs of the Grain of
Wheat variety.
The Rear trawl frame and net roller/drum are basically fabricated and
complete, I have simulated the welds with a very fine line of cyano gel (thixotropic
adhesive) this is then cured with an activator spray, if applied
carefully this can be a great effect, ( I also suggested this to a fellow
club member who did the welds on his Delta CCTV research sub as seen at
Warwickshire/ Leamington Spa show-
(see the photo pages
here) - the welds can be seen in the number 15 jpeg image.
( Francis also won a gold medal with this model at the model engineer show
this year -see
Model
Boats site for details), the results are good - especially if
simulating heavy structural type welds.....these can then be picked out
with weathering or dry brushing....
The rear net drum is in the same blue paint as the main winch (the
trademark blue of the Spencer Carter company) now this is done it will be
bonded/ suspended from the underside of the rear trawl frame in a
galvanized square section frame,
The rigging and trawl gear still need a lot of placing and finishing, - I
now have the majority of parts made or in the process of being made - the
trawl cables needs to be wound round the 2 central drums on the main
winch, the ends are then passed through a pair of deck rollers and then up
to some pulley blocks on the extremities of the rear trawl frame, from
here they are then connected to the 'Dunbar' doors which are to be mounted
on the rear trawl frame, in turn these Dunbar doors and the net
arrangement need to be fixed to the net roller and the lines
tensioned...... this is a task I am dreading, as I am no good at getting
cord through small holes, I am also no good at threading needles !, I have
also found some beads from a local craft shop that will make ideal net
floats, these also need to be threaded onto the trawl net/ lines.
I intend to use elastic cord for all lines onboard, these can be put under
tension so they remain taught, also they can be stretched and unhooked to
allow access for servicing the model. It also eases transportation if
masts, derricks and lines can be disconnected and re-assembled at the
lakeside.
There is still a rear mast and derrick to be completed, also there is a
derrick swivel to be produced,- this needs more research before I attempt
to model it...... but the model generally is moving in the right
direction, the boat is seaworthy now and is often sailed during the stages
of construction, I will send some on the water pictures soon, the
displacement is fairly large but the model is large too, the motor is more
than adequate for this size of model and power and propulsion of the model
is impressive, the high bow and foredeck make the model a good all weather
boat and the model comes into its own on the river Thames, it happily
chops through the swell caused by passing pleasure boats !
More later.... Guy
|