Hi guys. Having spent some time on a semi scratch model I have decided to return to a kit build as a break from all the problems of scratch building and have chosen DM's compact kit of the RN survey vessel HMS Bulldog. This makes a nice small 24 inch by 5 inch model which looks pretty and with two rudders and two props will make a very good regatta steering boat as well as be suitable for SWA events. This model is primarily for my wife's use and in fact she is the financial input as well as some of the less demanding work on it (heaven help me!). Anyway we have not got to that point yet so no aggro yet
Bought the kit direct from Deans Marine and I won't bore you with what was missing in the kit or what was confusing in the information just to say having built an HMS Kelly and a Z37 kit there were no surprises.
I am used to DM's deck support methods used on my destroyers and have used those rather than the use of all plastic deck edge supports and deck beams and bulkheads used in the kit. I have used balsa wood strips for deck edge support and spruce 5mm x 5mm strips for deck beams. I have not used the vacuum formed styrene motor support bed or the vacuum formed battery tray. Instead I have used 1/8inch birch plywood for all the interior supports/boxes. I have used Devcon 2-ton epoxy for all the wood to fibre glass attachment and Davids Auto Epoxy for the fixing of the prop shafts and for coating the interior wood at low level to prevent things getting a bit soggy.
The main motors are two very nice low current low power 365 size from Electronize. Stall current at my chosen 7.2 volt supply is only about 1.5 amps per motor so the smallest Mtroniks Viper 10 Amp ESC is more than adequate and I can also get away with quite low current capacity wire.
The kit hull does not have openings for anchors and in fact no anchors are included. To accommodate dummy scratch built anchors I have cut out slots in the hull behind which I have made boxes of styrene bonded to the hull using P38 - seems very rugged. I have made rudders from brass sheet/brass to replace the white metal kit items. The kit items were quite good but I was a bit dubious of the metal used for the rudder shafts. It looks a bit like that used for my HMS Kelly rudder. This worked very well until I took it to sail at the Southend on Sea model boat lake. At that time this lake was notorious for the corrosive nature of its water and true enough about a week later my Kelly's rudder was rusted solid in its tube
Hence its brass rudder shafts from now on.
