Posted by: Dennis
« on: 26 September 2021, 01:10:08 »Nice work. Built this kit a while back, wish I had done the deck with the lowered ramp. Keep up the great work. 
Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 13 September 2021, 16:16:09 »Having seen a picture of the real rear loading ramp down (attached) - I remodelled the deck access hatch to reflect this
Posted by: Kiyoshi Sekiguchi« on: 29 May 2021, 15:11:50 »Hi Monkfish81;
It's so convenient and clever for you to set an extra deck hatch opening at rear as you may know that adjustment of tiller arm is normally made frequently until best position is decided/found through many trial sailings, from my experience in the past. What is worse, the best position to be considered at one time could be apt to change sometimes due to some reasons. Furthermore,preliminary checking of the fixing screws of the rudder post /tiller arm will require this opening every time before sailing. I am looking forward to seeing your sailing pics on here.!!   Stay safe Cheer Kiyo Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 29 May 2021, 12:09:10 »rear view
Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 29 May 2021, 12:02:23 »rework in progress
Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 29 May 2021, 12:00:34 »extra deck hatch opening at rear
Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 29 May 2021, 11:59:00 »Rudder Mod
Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 29 May 2021, 11:24:53 »Just some advice to anyone building this kit. Much like the real thing - the twin rudders are pretty ineffective when out on the water. I have therefore changed to a single rudder mounted behind the prop which improves the performance. The rudder I used is code "RD-322" from Deans chandlers and is a good fit. It has a slightly larger surface area than the individual rudders supplied with the kit. I would also suggest making an additional hatch opening at the rear of the deck area. This will allow access to the rudder unit - it would be impossible to access the rudder arm etc without this and I wouldn't have been able to change the twin rudders without a lot more work re-work.
Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 15 September 2020, 10:04:08 »Hi Kiyo
Yes most of the model has been completed now - its taken the best part of six months. She will be ready fo her maiden voyage soon - I will certainly post some pictures  Posted by: Kiyoshi Sekiguchi« on: 15 September 2020, 09:22:54 »Hi Monkfish81;
You look already to have finished the balance test and most painting work of the model. Are you supposed to have a maiden voyage in the very near future? I am looking forward to seeing her pics sailing well on the water. Kiyo Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 14 September 2020, 14:39:52 »Despite heavy batteries she still needed quite a bit of ballast to get her floating right in the water. I found the best thing for ballast is cutting the leg out of a set of tights and then filling with small stones that you would put in an aquarium. The advantage of this system is that you can get move it around and get it to mould into the profile of the ships hull. I needed ballast both at fore and aft of vessel.
She needs a bit more fine detailing and the purists will notice that I changed the deck colour ( Halfords industry grey) and haven't included a ramp yet. I'm not going for an 'exact' replica at this stage - just a model that I like the look of.... Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 14 September 2020, 14:34:03 »I went through a "lot" of different tester sprays and cans trying to get the right colours. I eventually settled for Halfords - "Ford Burgandy Red" and Halfords "Engine Blue" enamel (RAL 5010) which I think look pretty good.
As it is my first build I didn't want to make any more holes in the hull than I needed to, so I never cut out the back for the loading ramp. Instead I made my own ramp out of balsa and left over plastic card (using the rather warped resin ramp included in the kit as a template). I was able to make my ramp much thinner in profile which means that it almost sits flush with the back of the hull. Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 14 September 2020, 14:29:07 »I have gone for a 6volt system. Motor and rudder running off a 10aH lead acid battery. Bow thruster and working radar off a seperate 1.2aH lead acid battery. 2 x Speed controllers. I upgraded to a Raboesh propshaft and and nichrome coupling
Posted by: Monkfish81« on: 14 September 2020, 14:15:44 »This is my first ever build of a model Ship. I have only ever made airfix/revell kits before.
Many thanks to Ron at Deans Marine technical for taking time to speak over the phone and guide me on what at first seemed a very daunting task. Like all these things once you get going its ok, and tackling it a section at a time helps. After some advice from Colin on this forum - I bought myself a set of decent modelling files which I would really reccommend to anyone starting out. These were essential for jobs like freeing ports. |