Boat Modelling (Part IV)
- Written by Malcolm. Blackman
Welcome to the fourth part of this article, and I hope that if nothing else so far, I have whetted your appetite to the world of model boats. I should have said earlier in the article, and I must confess to having been remiss in this matter, but if you are having problems with any stage of your build, STOP.
Leave things as they are and think things over. Do not carry on and dig any holes deeper. Look at things objectively, and then when you can see everything clearly, and in a different light, go back and try again. Always remember, that what you have built once, you can do again if it is not quite right the first time.
The Rear Hatch
We will be dealing with the superstructure in this issue, and in the case of the M.T.B.s there is not a lot of it. The relevant structure of the Vosper is the cabin, bridge, and coach roof, which start immediately behind the raised forecastle. However, there are also the torpedo tubes, guns, and other paraphernalia that cluttered the decks of this class of boat. So we will take a look at that as well in this part.
Having been a modeller of various kinds since the 50s, and having done the wood thing, I prefer to make this part of the boat from styrene sheet, which you can get in various thicknesses and it is a lot lighter and cleaner to work with than wood. The medium used to join styrene is liquid poly and this actually produces a weld between the joints by melting the plastic. It is cut by using a sharp craft knife, (I use a scalpel.) and just scoring along the line to be cut 3 or 4 times, then bending the sheet in order to break the part you wish to use out of the sheet. When marking out the parts use a sharp pencil and cut on the line, remember that if the original part is sloping, the side that you are looking at is actually shorter than you will require the part to be. The secret here is “MEASURE TWICE and CUT ONCE”. When using liquid poly be sparing, and as mentioned in part one, if you spill it on to the styrene leave it for 24 hours and then affect a repair. What ever you do, do not try to mop it off, as you will cause more damage this way.
Start by fixing in place strips of styrene round the openings in the deck where the superstructure will fit over, and you will find that the superstructure can be built to be easily removable for access into the hull, and it will stay in place at other times. Commence with cutting out the central bulkhead, which is between the bridge and cabin, and then cut the cabin and bridge sides and also a spacing piece for the front of the cabin where it meets the forecastle and a bridge deck, this will give you a basic start to the construction. You will find that initially things will be fairly flimsy but as you progress everything will stiffen up. During the build, keep checking the fit to the boat’s deck and make sure that no liquid poly bonds anything together that should not be bonded. After all, this part of the boat will need to be removable, in order for you to get at the radio and machinery. During this stage, it is worth considering if you wish to fit out the cabin. If you do, this will have to be taken into account and made allowance for. Also windows will have to be glazed before the roof and front of cabin are fixed in place. It is worth bearing in mind that if you get something wrong, you can always make it again using the experience gained from the first time.
Following from the basic cabin and bridge build, the coach roof and sides need to be made and attached to the bridge. Bear in mind what has been said above, and carry on. When made, join the two structures together. At all stages make sure that everything is a good working fit to the deck of the boat. If by some chance there are slight irregularities in any joints when working with styrene, you may find Humbrol model filler useful, followed by a gentle rub down with fine wet & dry paper (used wet or dry.) and this should fix the problem.
The Story So Far
When you have everything done to your satisfaction, it is time to paint. Don’t forget to mask the various parts before spraying, and do not be afraid to use a paintbrush for the small details, and touching up.
The fittings come next. These can either be made by you, or purchased from various suppliers. If I mention a supplier by name, I can assure you that I am not on commission, but have found them be honest, efficient, and reasonable, they will also ship to Portugal. You can order on the Internet, speak to them on the telephone, or write to them via either E, or snail mail.
I have previously mentioned John Lambert and his ship drawings, but in respect of 1:24 scale Service High Speed Launch fittings, into which category M.T.B.’s, M.G.B.´s, M.L.´s, H.D.M.L.´s, & R.A.F. Search & Rescue craft come into, I must point you in the direction of http://www.hslmouldings.co.uk/ These people are modellers who produce fittings and crew for R.N. Coastal Forces craft and R.A.F. S&R boats. Also, the odd G.R.P. hull can be obtained through them. As suppliers of all things “model boat”, I have found Cornwall Model Boats Ltd. of Tintagel, to be very good. The only drawback I have had with them is, if they only have a limited stock of an item, they will send what they have, and you need to re-order the shortfall later. This can be a bit of a problem it you want stanchions, and they only send a few when you want a few dozen.
I have previously mentioned John Lambert and his ship drawings, but in respect of 1:24 scale High Speed Launch fittings, into which category MTB’s, MGB´s, ML´s, HDML´s, & RAF Search & Rescue craft come into, I must point you in the direction of http://www.hslmouldings.co.uk/ These people are modellers who produce fittings and crew for R.N. Coastal Forces craft and R.A.F. S&R Launches Also, the odd GRP hull can be obtained through them. As suppliers of all things “model boat” Cornwall Model Boats Ltd of Tintagel are to be found very good. The only drawback I have found with them is, if they only have a limited stock of an item, they will send what they have, and you need to re-order later. This can be a bit of a problem it you want stanchions, and they only send a couple when you want a couple of dozen.
I have never found out how to make my own cowl vents, so I always have to buy the ready built ones and make any adjustments necessary. Also, portholes and deck lights are best
purchased, especially if you want the glazed variety. You will find that on the MTB there are three areas of anti-slip matting and for these I use wet & dry paper. Torpedo tubes are quite a significant part of the MTB and you can make these quite simply from either lengths of aluminium tube, or from the round, steradent, or similar pill containers. The rails can be made from styrene, as can the various hatches and a lot of other deck fittings besides. Laminations of styrene can be made to make some quite complicated fittings. So use your ingenuity to make as much as you can.As can be seen from the two photographs at the top of this month’s article, these are two different boats built on the same hull.
On the subject of hulls, I mentioned in part 1 of the series that some suppliers are better than others. I can personally recommend: www.kingstonmouldings.com/home Who I have dealt with over many years and have never had a bad one yet from them.I am also led to believe that www.deansmarine.co.uk supply a very good quality product, but have no personal experience of this.
I hope that the information that I have given over the last few months has been of interest to you, and that you will consider taking up this very interesting and absorbing hobby. I fly model gliders, and a helicopter, but as for a consuming and satisfying hobby, building scale model boats does it every time. Before I have completed one, I am planning the next. Each one is a fresh challenge.
If you do decide to take up the challenge. You can get help, advice and support from me by E-mail at: malcolm.blackman@clix.pt
