Boat Modelling (Part III)
- Written by Malcolm. Blackman
Welcome to the third part of this series on model boat building. I hope that you found the first parts of interest and are now looking forward to the next stage of the build.
Last month we finished with the rudders, and it would be worth a quick mention on hanging them on the outside of the hull. This is a delicate operation and needs careful lining up in order for the shafts to be a free fit in the guides. I had a bit of a problem whilst carrying out this operation, as I tend to put a drop of cyano on things to tack them in place whilst the epoxy cures. However, a bit more than intended dripped into the top bracket and seized a rudder shaft, which required a quick bit of remedial work. This photograph shows it all in place and the holes in the shafts that the tiller arms fit into, also, the area that needed attention after the cyano
crept where it shouldn’t have.
I made the tiller arms from 2mm wire and threaded them, and the rudder shafts, then finally put them together using thread lock. The tiller arms need joining inside the hull in order that they move together, and this I did with a length of brass tube flattened at both ends then drilled and joined with clevises. At all stages of this part of the build constantly check that everything moves smoothly. Now we have fitted out the inside of the hull, and all of the motors, shafts, speed controllers, servo, batteries, and radio receiver etc. are in place, and everything is connected up and working as it should. You can now move on to the deck.
At this stage your hull should look something like the photograph in part two, but should have a lot more of the guidance system in the hull. I then cover the deck (not the openings.) With 2 layers of 4mm balsa and sand them to shape. (Decks are cambered in order to facilitate the disbursement of any water.) Finally covering with styrene and filling and sanding any joins that may be in evidence. Using this method of construction, it is possible to drill into the deck and have a fairly solid mounting for deck fittings.
Now for the last part of the hull build which is to fit the rubbing strakes round the sides of the hull, one round the chine angles and one at deck level. I use wood for this, but plastic strips would do just as well. And when this is completed we are ready to paint the hull.
A light sanding with fine wet and dry paper used wet is recommended and this just to break the glaze and make sure everything is smooth. I always spray my models using both car type cans of spray paint and an airbrush. It is worth remembering that military vessels are painted either in matt, or semi-gloss paint schemes. Large areas like the hull are best sprayed with cans, and masking when the paint is dry, then moving on to the next colour.
I start with the below waterline colour (Don’t forget to mask the prop shafts.) then when dry, mask to the correct line and then spray the white/light grey to cover where this is on the hull. Then again when dry, mask off the area and spray the mid grey area of the hull. Finally mask off the hull sides and bottom and spray the deck in the dark grey.The round lumps you can see on these two photographs are the mushroom vents, and the small pieces of dowel are for the cowl vents positioning.
As the last part of the hull construction. Now make the removable hatch that forms part of the rear deck and covers the speed controllers, rudder coupling and servo. First put a lip round the underside of the opening for the hatch to sit on, and I make the hatch from sheet balsa with sheet styrene the same thickness as the deck on top. And as you will see from the drawing there is a brass strip round this area, which will cover the join if you have planned the hatch correctly. Before embarking on the superstructure, it would be helpful for me to explain a little of the history of these boats. As mentioned previously these vessels were in fact 70´6” long and they were numbered: 20-23, 28-30, 31-40, 57-66, 69-70, 74, and 218-221. The early vessels of the class had a flat deck, stem to stern, and M.T.B.31 was the first of the class to have the raised foredeck, which made for a dryer boat. So this hull will do for any of the above numbered boats from 31 onwards. As the war progressed and experience was gained, the superstructure was modified. Therefore, it is important to
decide which of the vessels you wish to model in order to get it right. M.T.B.74 was a unique vessel built to attack the Scharnhorst whilst in Brest, and she was built with 18” torpedo tubes on the forecastle in order to fire over torpedo nets. However, Scharnhorst sailed before this raid could be mounted, (The Channel dash of February 1942.) and 74 later took part in the St. Nazaire raid, on which operation, she was lost.
As can be seen on this Vosper Thornycroft photo of 74, this is not a standard superstructure, or paint job, and the decks are remarkably clear. The hull that I am using comes with drawings for the 10 boats 57- 66 of which 66 was the only boat to stay in home waters, the others from this batch all served in the Mediterranean. 61,63 and 64 did not survive the war. Profile Publications ´Warship Profile 7´ has some very nice photographs of 66 in it, and a lot of information besides. This book is out of print at this time but can be downloaded from the Internet for free. John Lambert has done drawings of the changes made over the period of production and also the after war modifications of the Vosper M.T.B.s and M.G.B.s and I am sure that a visit to his web site would provide plenty of information.
We will leave this part at this stage and carry on with the superstructure and deck fittings in Part 4 next time.
As always, do not hesitate to contact me by E-mail at: malcolm.blackman@clix.pt if you have any queries.
