Topic: Seahunter- The Big Refit! (Read 161479 times)

Brian60 · « **Reply #100 on:** May 03, 2015, 02:34:15 pm »

Today marks the beginning of my nervous breakdown

I've finally finished the stern cargo rail, lots of swearing and throwing things around the room and late nights to boot.

I decided the outer vertical support posts would be brass as well, reasoning that if they were soldered to the top rail it would have greater strength than a plastic support glued to the inner bulwark. The soldering work in close proximity to the plastic bulwark was a nightmare, I blistered the rail in 3 places requiring remedial work.

Brian60 · « **Reply #101 on:** May 03, 2015, 02:46:13 pm »

I don't think the posts showo too well in the photo's maybe later when they are painted. I am fortunate in that all the rails and walls along with the decks are the same grey colour, so getting a brush in there is not going to be too bad with no other colours to dodge around.

Also completed due to there not being room to do them later are the 4 warping posts and the aft warping drum. I still have to add the storage tank snorkel vents, electrical controls for the warping drums, lighting and of course the discharge pipework for the bulk liquid and powder cargoes, so still much work to do on this side. I have 56 hours invested in this one rail so far- enough to want to give up and throw it all in the bin

Still once its complete I can turn my attention to the other side

As I was collecting detail for the colour of the discharge pipes I came across an 'operational rule' requirement that I have not seen duplicated on other models of this type. The rule says that the 'Rescue Zone' on port and starboard side should be illuminated in such a way that it can be seen from the seaward side. Couple of overhanging downlighters coming right up!

TugCowboy · « **Reply #102 on:** May 03, 2015, 05:00:41 pm »

Looks fantastic Brian and well worth every minute.

What's your method for painting intricate brass work? Had a problem recently with some smaller pieces and paint/ primer refusing to stick

Mark T · « **Reply #103 on:** May 03, 2015, 06:34:49 pm »

Brian that brass work looks great

TugCowboy have you tried using etch primer - This works well for me on brass and you can buy it from Halfords

Brian60 · « **Reply #104 on:** May 03, 2015, 06:35:19 pm »

The brass has to be scrupulously clean. I shoved this rail in the dishwasher when swimbo wasn't looking! When it came out I then rinsed it under the tap using a steel wool pad to key the surface. Then its use an etch primer and cross fingers! You have to be careful not to get a patch that flakes off as the flaking will just run and run no matter how you try to feather the broken edge. Etch primer can be had from Halfords.

Brian60 · « **Reply #105 on:** May 03, 2015, 06:37:15 pm »

Ha, Mark got in a few seconds before I did. Thanks for the complement on the brasswork Mark, its been a nightmare to solder it all together.

Mark T · « **Reply #106 on:** May 03, 2015, 06:43:31 pm »

Yep I can see that Brian - Lots of joints all close together and them all just itching to come undone once more heat is applied

Before I paint my brass I do as you do - but I also give it a wipe down with degreaser too. Last week I shaped and painted 4 - 0.5 rods of brass and was pleased with the results. I came home later to discover that our cats had also decided to inspect them and during their inspection they managed to completely reshape them into a ball

I'l make them again tomorrow

Brian60 · « **Reply #107 on:** May 05, 2015, 07:10:41 am »

I have got paint on to the cargo rail now and it as a unit is complete. As I mentioned earlier there are still the associated pipework to install and lighting but that is later in the build. I have learned how I can do things better on the port rail, for instance trying to hold parts together whilst soldering, instead of using bulldog and crocodile clips. I am going to assemble the complete rail, bind it together with thin fencing wire, and then do as many joints in one go as I can. That should cut down on the hours taken to complete it.

So a few photo's to show state of play. This coming week I want to complete the port rail, but I have also started work on the mechanicals of lifting the towing pins from the after deck- that is why it is still white in the photo's, no point painting it when its still being worked on.

Brian60 · « **Reply #108 on:** May 05, 2015, 07:11:38 am »

I love the power of close up photos, it shows where you need to touch up paint that normally the eye misses. I see from these I have a couple of spots to cover.

Brian60 · « **Reply #109 on:** May 10, 2015, 11:20:50 am »

Well its been a busy week. Building a brick wall in the garden, taking the dog to be spayed and the aftercare, out for two meals with friends, winter pool cover off the swimming pool - I don't know how I've found time to do any modelling this week. But I have! I started work on the port cargo rail, this one has been a right 'mare to do, I'm on the point of scrapping it and beginning from scratch with it, first photo.

As I said in the last update, I was going to begin on the aft towing pins, I wanted these to raise from the deck, so have been working on getting the mechanism to operate. I originally wanted all four pins to raise independently but have settled for them to work in pairs. The blurry video(forgot to change the camera to macro setting) shows how they will come up. These were going to work via a cam attached to servo's but I don't have enough below deck clearance, so giving it some thought, I am now going to use a cable system and pulleys attached to the servo's. The second photo shows the underside of the anchor deck and the return spring and connectors to the towing pins. Hopefully on the next update I can show the full operating system in place.

https://youtu.be/vhApN4u0zwE

Brian60 · « **Reply #110 on:** May 10, 2015, 02:12:37 pm »

I also have some major doctoring to do inside the hull. I originally had 550 motors in the hull so I was going to use those again and duly bonded in their mounts to the hull bottom. While in the UK apart from buying most of my Action electronics, I also invested in two of their 775 motors, which of course will not fit the old mounts, so now I have to look at getting those out and putting new ones in! Is it time to say I've reached the point in the build where one wonders how to proceed, then ends up procrastinating for days without accomplishing anything?

radiojoe · « **Reply #111 on:** May 10, 2015, 02:57:03 pm »

Brian, looking at the rest of your work I would have thought renewing the motor mounts would not present too much of a challenge for you, but yes I know what you mean about procrastination when You can't make up you mind about something.

Brian60 · « **Reply #112 on:** May 16, 2015, 11:58:49 am »

Carry on procrastinating. That could have been a 1960's film with Sid James

Anyway I finished off the portside cargo rail and got it epoxied into the deck. It just needs the bulwark supports making and them painting and finished with! Apart from adding as mentioned earlier the 6inch dry powder and liquid cargo pipework.

There is a lonely crewman in the photo's, sadly he was laid off when the Seahunter was broken up. I think he's loitering around hoping for a job on the new ship

So on to many problems I have come up against this week......

Brian60 · « **Reply #113 on:** May 16, 2015, 12:12:19 pm »

I mentioned in the last post about buying two new motors. Stupidly on my part I forgot to also get the motor mounts! So with not a little trouble I managed to get the 54o type mounts out of the hull and made up a new mount in plexiglas which I have a big sheet of. What I am not happy about and the supplier will remain anonymous ( they didn't come from Component Shop) are the universal couplings. While in the UK I ordered loads of stuff from various sources and when it came by the postie it just got packed away for shipping back to Spain.

Now ready to install the motors I find that rather than having two threaded couplings I have one threaded and one plain insert. So now I need to go out and buy a thread tap and open up a 3mm one from my parts box to 5mm

I also ran out of soft solder during the cargo rail build. I bought another reel from the local chinese shop, have you seen solder catch fire

heating the brass tube with a small blowtorch, touch the solder to the tube and whoomph, the solder is alight like a firework sparkler! Seems the flux core doesn't like heat negating its use as solder

So going overboard I had to break out my reel of plumbers solder and use pipe flux and extra heat hence the blackened parts on the brass tubing.

I hope this coming week brings better luck.

Mad Scientist · « **Reply #114 on:** May 18, 2015, 11:14:41 pm »

That scale crewmember is a perfect indication of how the builders are turning out ever-larger OSVs. A real difference from 40 years ago!
He might not be out of work. He might be an Owner's Representative, living in a nice hotel while the ships is being built.
A few years ago, I met a fellow who was offered such a job in Norway. He declined the offer - didn't want to live there for 5 or more months waiting for the builder to finish the ship.

Tom

Brian60 · « **Reply #115 on:** May 19, 2015, 02:17:27 pm »

I would've loved a job like that Tom.

But getting back to how anchor handlers have grown in size, take a look at this post....

http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,50620.msg517358.html#msg517358

It illustrates perfectly how they've grown from the 70/80's to the modern one being built in 2014 (first post on the page)

Brian60 · « **Reply #116 on:** May 26, 2015, 07:01:11 pm »

Well not a lot has been done in the last week. When I came back to Spain I thought I'd brought every possible spare I could need, not so! So work has ground to a halt really until the postie brings me a parcel from Cornwall Model Boats.

So this is what I have completed so far. The port cargo rail is completed now. I have touched up the paint where I had chipped it. The deck supervisor for P.A.C.C (PACC Offshore Services Holdings) in corporate coveralls of blue/yellow evicting the 'old bloke' in his '80's outfit. The hull as it stand can now be clearcoated, I may do that this week.

Brian60 · « **Reply #117 on:** May 26, 2015, 07:12:18 pm »

Those paying attention may notice the starboard prop is missing. I had to remove the propshaft to do some work on its tube in the hull, this has kicked up another problem, that is the props are from Raboesch, lovely pieces of workmanship. However the prop body is seperate from its bush. The idea is you can do away with the external locking nut to lock the prop to the shaft. You tighten the prop against its boss to lock it in place.

My problem is the props being inside kort nozzles you can't get a spanner to the boss, or even get enough of a grip on the prop to help lock it into place!

I have also fabricated the support pillar for the deck crane. I have 30mm plastic tube, 25mm plastic tube but no 20mm! I did have some 20mm dowel, so cut a piece to size and then wrapped it in 0.2mm plasticard, it can be seen on the lower focsl deck.

Lastly those pesky motors. I have completed the motor mount and also soldered on the wiring and capacitors. The front view also shows that I have drilled and tapped the top. I aim to make a tray to hold the electronics that will extend towards the stern. Once in place the motors will also be getting a shield over them to help keep electrical spikes from interfering.

So thats it for now. I'll keep pottering and doing the little jobs that aren't worth documenting until my new bits arrive in the post.

Brian60 · « **Reply #118 on:** June 02, 2015, 12:35:31 pm »

Well I am surprised. Cornwall Model Boats mailed out my parts on thursday by airmail. For once the Spanish postal system operated like a postal system, they were in my mailbox on monday!

This is where it all went wrong. Admittedly CMB could have packed the aluminium rod in a tubs instead of a jiffy back, but that doesn't negate the fact the postie practically folded the bag in half to fit it in the mailbox! First photo is some aluminium rod I had, the others are what was in the package after and ham fisted postie.

Brian60 · « **Reply #119 on:** June 02, 2015, 12:45:21 pm »

This is a pain in the butt seeing as I needed them straight! I've done my best to knock them into shape but they are still a bit wonky. I also have a package coming from a second supplier who I will name once it arrives. They too posted it airmal on thursday- wonder when that one will arrive!
So this morning I got to work making up the dry powder and liquid distribution pipework, as you can see this travels the full length of the underside of the cargo rail support and terminates at the aft end in self sealing connectors. Once I have three of these on each side there is very little else to do on the cargo deck.

Also tucked into the corner where the pipes are is a ready use locker for immersion suits, I have one or two more of these small boxes to make up for hose reels, control systems etc, but nothing that can't be made out of plastic card. I have also made up in photoshop many of the warning decals that are needed before the final clearcoat is sprayed on. These are printed off on decal paper, I'll take a photo and post it next time.

Brian60 · « **Reply #120 on:** June 03, 2015, 12:09:01 pm »

No explanations here really, save to say that for bending the aluminium rod I made a simple jig. A block of wood with two lines at 90 degrees, where they met in the corner I knocked in a 3in nail. The aluminium being soft enough to bend around it with my fingers. So these four photos are the completed port side pipes. just need painting and colour bands to show what fluids are in each pipe.

david48 · « **Reply #121 on:** June 03, 2015, 01:51:34 pm »

This is a good build ,I notice you say you are useing decal paper and making your own ,how much of a job is it ,"ie" where is the best paper ,not the cheapest ,did you use a decal fix solution ,why I ask is I want to make some up for my Fairmount build .
Thank
David

Brian60 · « **Reply #122 on:** June 03, 2015, 02:56:12 pm »

David I sourced my paper from Ebay, not the cheap chinese stuff, it came from a reputable art supplier who also uses ebay, an outlet called craftsnaccessories-all one word if you search ebay. My 3 A4 sheets cost £9 with p&p, the packaging was a stiff cardboard backed envelope to stop them being folded or bent in the post.

Once you have printed the decals onto the paper you need to let the ink dry, then a light overspray with clear laquer to fix the ink or it will dissolve in the water! Allow it to dry and then treat as you do ordinary decals. You need to be aware that there are two types of paper, one for lazer printers and one for standard inkjet printers.

TugCowboy · « **Reply #123 on:** June 03, 2015, 03:05:58 pm »

Love the pipework there. enjoying this build a lot.

Alex

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #124 on:** June 03, 2015, 08:11:12 pm »

I admire the pipework young sir. Very tidy job indeed.

Cheers

ken

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Author Topic: Seahunter- The Big Refit! (Read 161479 times)