Taken from Modelslipway's website
The kit contains a detailed glassfibre hull, printed plastic for decks and superstructure, etched brass detail which includes window frames, a vac-formed and resin-cast rigid inflatable, white metal fittings and running gear complete with brass propellers and a full size plan backed up with a detailed instruction booklet.
HULL: I began by cutting surplus material from the top of the hull, removing the high gloss finish with medium grade wet or dry paper and water, and finally roughening the top inside with coarse grade wet and dry.The freeing ports were opened out by drilling and filing. The bulwark above the longest two became quite flexible, requiring stiffening by clamping on two ramin strips. These were readily moved around whilst work progressed, and were only discarded after the bulwark supports had been added.
A pencil line marked the position for the top edge of the deck edge support. Four strips of 6x 3mm plastic were roughened on one side and the top edges roughly chamfered to fit the bow. I found the best adhesive for gluing plastic to grp was Deluxe Material's Fusion. Although only giving 2-3 minute work time it etches into the materials and forms a very strong bond. A second layer of 6x 3mm plastic strip glued with solvent to the first gave a good seating for the deck.
RUNNING GEAR: The dimensions for the positioning of the running gear were taken from the instructions, any indentations in the hull being ignored. Holes were drilled and the prop tubes, 'P' brackets and rudder tubes fitted, held temporarily in place with Sellotape and Plasticine whilst being lightly tacked in position with Isopon P40. When the Sellotape etc., was removed, the alignment was rechecked and when I was satisfied with the set up, they were permanently fixed into place with Isopon P40. With the exposed shafts and supported brackets I found no problem in setting up and getting the shafts to spin freely.
The manufacturers display model has the rudders connected to the stabilizers using the kit white metal rudder arms. (The kit now includes a diagram showing this option). Not knowing of this, I did my own thing. The two pins on the stabilizers were removed and drilled at the largest pin position to accept 4mm diameter brass rod. For accuracy I used a bench drill on a slow speed; too fast and the metal would have melted. I made two tubes similar to the prop tubes but only 15mm long with a 4mm clearance hole, and glassed them into position. The stabilizer shafts were pushed through the tubes and two commercial plastic rudder arms clamped on the inside. I discarded the kit white metal rudder arms and made new triangular ones with brass plate soft soldered to brass collets. All were connected together using wire and ball couplings from SHG Models. The rudders are connected together with the servo connecting to the inside of one rudder triangle. The outer point of each rudder triangle connects to a stabilizer arm.
DECK: The deck crossbeams and supports were made from the printed plastic sheet and 6 x 3mm strips: the dimensions are in the instructions. With the hull being a flat transom it was a straightforward task to measure their positions, trim and glue into place. The dimensions for the access steps had to be taken from the plan as their positions were not clearly marked on the hull. They needed fairly accurate measuring, drilling and filing as there was not much overlap on the etched brass steps to cover mistakes. Squares of 1mm Plasticard were added to the inside of the hull then drilled to add depth. Square of Plasticard were added to the inside to seal. To finish the etched brass steps were Superglued to the outside. As mentioned in the instructions an alternative would have been not to drill the hull but simply glue on the etched brass steps and paint the recess a darker colour.
The deck was in six pieces, (sheer and camber on this model being straight with the only curve being at the bow). I cut the curve of the foredecks as tight to the hull as possible, then trimmed them to fit on the centre line. This did leave some gaps against the coaming but they were easily made good with scrap. As the decks had to be trimmed to fit, the marked positions of the deck furniture became inaccurate - a point made in the instructions. With a full size plan it was a simple matter of transferring dimensions. The side decks are rectangles and were simply trimmed to fit. As for the aft deck, I cut out both halves and lightly tacked them together at the centre line with solvent. I then scored around the hatch fully cutting it out after separating the two. Leaving the hatch parts to one side I fitted the deck halves at the centreline, trimming each to the outside and leaving about 1mm gap between the edge of the Plasticard and the grp hull. As instructed the hatch supports were glued to the underside of the deck halves which were then glued into position. The gap between the plastic and grp was filled with Isopon P38 and when set filed flat, finishing with wet and dry paper and water. The hatch was a simple affair and when completed needed only light filing to give a neat fit.
To take the elbow grease out of smoothing the inside of the bulwarks they are lined with 0.5mm plastic. The edge of the Plasticard which butted to the deck was trimmed to be a tight fit, and then glued to the decks with solvent, and the grp with Evostik. When dry the surplus was trimmed back to the top of the bulwarks. There were 44 bulwark supports to cut, fit and glue into position. They all need trimming and/or chamfering to give a good fit at both bulwark and deck. When the supports had been added the bulwark above the long freeing port became surprisingly stiff and strong.
SUPERSTRUCTURE: This was a slab sided box, relatively easy to assemble. The bottom of each side needs to be checked before assembly to ensure a neat fit to the deck. Once the basic box structure had been assembled I sat it over the deck coaming and found I had built in a good twist! To correct I had to cut through the base frame where the sides and cross pieces met, twist the structure then reinforce the cut joints with scrap plastic. The structure was also too long for the coaming so I added two blocks about 3.5mm of laminated scrap plastic to each front corner which took up the slackness and stopped any fore/aft movement.
For the wheelhouse windows etched brass frames had to be first glued to clear plastic. This was important as the brass was purposely undersize and the overall dimension relied on the thickness of the plastic. The roof was glued into position using the side and front screens as height templates. Both side screens and front screen were then glued into position with the roof being held down with Sellotape until the solvent had set. Before they could be fitted both rear and forward side screens had to be filed to ensure the windows sat vertically and centrally.
The flying bridge and mast had 1mm square stiffeners added to the inside. Rather than cut these from the plastic sheet I used Microstrip, which only needed cutting for length. The instructions show how to assemble the mast and radar platforms using a simple jig to ensure squareness. The etched brass door and ventilator mounting panels were then Superglued into position. The plastic doors and ventilator backing pieces only just fitted over these brass panels. I found one edge would fit in and the other on, giving a lopsided appearance. The simple expedience of 0.25mm plastic cut to fit inside the frames squared everything up nicely.
FIXTURES: Of all the fittings the most noticeable was the rigid inflatable (RIB) with its large davit. On the RIB there was an awkward angle between the floor and sponson, which when built would prove difficult to paint. I cut out the floor from the plastic sheet and painted it and the inside of the resin sponson (orange and grey) before gluing together. The vac-formed hull was cut out and glued onto the sponson then trimmed to match the deck aft. Rather than thin and trim the resin transom, I preferred to cut a new one from scrap plastic. When dry the joint between the hull bottom and the transom was made good with model filler. The remaining items were easy to fit, although I did add an anti-slip mat from Scale Links etched brass and a windscreen from thin clear plastic.
The davit was all cut from the plastic sheet. It was not that difficult to make but it needed all the frame sides cutting to the same width to keep the box sections square. With the davit completed and fitted to the removable portion of the deck I found that the RIB was reluctant to sit safely in place. Photographs of the real ship show the wedge shapes which support the RIB hull outboard of the keel. I cut these from scrap plastic which when fitted held the RIB securely in place with the minimum amount of gluing.
Wire was provided for the handrail and the instructions provided good diagram sequences for making and positioning. I did find this wire required more heat than say, brass wire, and needed to be held in position for a couple of seconds whilst the solder set. Having drilled the holes, rather than make a jig as suggested, I built all the rails directly onto the model. Lengths of wire were cut for the stanchions and superglued into the etched brass stanchions brackets. Each stanchion was fitted (not glued) into the holes in the deck and cut for length. Wire was cut and bent for the top rail and end stanchions then soldered to the top of the individual stanchions. Using a scrap piece of card 25mm wide I adjusted the height of the top rail and re-glued the brass brackets as necessary. Using 12mm and 5mm wide scrap card I cut and soldered first the middle and then the bottom rails. All flux splashes then had to be washed from the model. The rails were removed, washed and painted, and after the rest of the model had been painted they were glued back into position.
PAINTING: The hull was sprayed with car grey primer and the plastic painted with enamel matt white. I usually brush paint Humbrol paints, so I was dismayed to find their new super enamels had poor covering quality. After four coats I still had white patches smiling through. I was unable at short notice to obtain any Revell enamels, but at Harrogate Show purchased some coach enamels from Phoenix Precision Paints. Although they were more expensive they had good covering power, and were easily thinned to enable a good finish.
FITTING OUT: I used two packs of 5 x 2.2Ah 'C' cells from Model Power Supplies, powering two of Slipways' 545 which were controlled by two ACTion Commander 20 electronic speed controllers. One power pack sat just forwards of the rudders opposite the RIB and the other forwards of the motors. Both ACTion speed controllers laid alongside the aft battery pack with the fuse mounting on top of the motors. The rudder servo sat between the couplings in an SHG vac-formed servo mount; I kept the receiver high by gluing a Plasticard platform under the forecastle but laid the receiver battery pack on the hull bottom, which I found ideal for that minor trim adjustment. The aerial was wrapped around a dowel and fitted under the forecastle deck between the bow and the forward opening. The rudders and stabilizers were set up by adjusting the linkages. The two ACTion speed controllers were simplicity itself. The transmitter sticks and trims were centered before it and the receiver were switched on, I waited 3 seconds and as long as it took to fit the superstructure in place and the model was ready to go.
SAILING: With my combination of batteries etc., in place the model was slightly heavy but by adjusting these items during bath trials I was able to get the model to sit squarely although the waterline was just over the boot top. I eventually changed the batteries and achieved the correct displacement; this made sailing more lively. It was good fun to sail, the action of the stabilizers making it lay over in a turn, just like a motorbike.
CONCLUSION: The model compares well to the builder's general arrangement drawings and also photographs taken when first built. Dave Wooley's photographs in September and October 1996 Model Boats showed some changes. Nothing particularly new, more a rearrangement of some deck fittings. There was nothing difficult about this kit, the printed plastic was accurate, and the one piece I did find short has since been corrected. As one would expect the only real trimming needed was the decks and the superstructure where it met the decks. The plan and instructions were good and the exploded drawings excellent. The drawings show the thickness of the plastic so it takes the guesswork out of which way the parts butt together. The kit is available by mail order from Model Slipway, 77 Arundell Drive, Lundwood, Barnsley S71 5LE.
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Topic: Model Slipway Sentinel (Read 56159 times)