Topic: HMS Illustrious.

[mikearace]

Theres a lot of cutting there Paul.  Glad you got the patience.  But looking good anyone.

[colin]

those bulkheads look Ok to me Paul, 

[paul swainson]

No I have the time Mike and an nice saw to help with the work.   

The bulkheads still need a bit more work Colin to smooth out the kinks in the hull and fit much tighter so out with the sander till I get them to fit.  The first step is to do the stern quarter deck (at hanger deck level) bulk head along with the deck so that I can work out and cut the access to the rudder for the servo and to repair from the top as the rudder will more or less be totally enclosed in this space.  I have been looking at a magnet type rudder arm system to that I can release the rudder quickly with out having to have all these cut outs in the quarter deck and the upper gallery deck.  Any one seen some examples?

[paul swainson]

Here are the photos of the stern bulkhead and quarter deck tacked in place.

[radio joe]

  I have been looking at a magnet type rudder arm system to that I can release the rudder quickly with out having to have all these cut outs in the quarter deck and the upper gallery deck.  Any one seen some examples?

Hi Paul
Good job so far, a magnetic tiller arm ?, not something I would want to rely on in the middle of the lake, if it became detached for any reason you would loose all control, I usually don't bother with hatches for mine, as long as they are assembled with tread lock on all parts they should be maintenance free, at least that's what I've been doing for years and never had any issues.
Joe.

[swiftdoc]

I agree with Joe. I use power magnets for attaching figures and hatches but never would use them for a tiller arm. Safety first

[paul swainson]

Have a look at this link and give me your views, as it seems to work with this guy.

http://www.wmunderway.8m.com/cont/rudder/rudder.htm

[radio joe]

Hi Paul
Not sure I see any advantage to being able to pull the rudder out, IMO if any thing is going to go wrong it's likely to be the tiller arms and linkages which the guy has built in as he didn't want any hatches, 

Joe.

[swiftdoc]

Hi Paul,
I would remain on the safe side i.e. no magnets. I would not want to risk loosing a build which took such a lot of time and effort (and money).
Arno

[paul swainson]

Well after some thought I have gone with the fixed rudder control arm and have marked out the position of the access hatch.   Nearly all the bulkheads have been installed and cut to suit the hull, just one or two more to do and then ready to mark out the position of the outer prop shafts and then drilled their location holes in the bulkheads, after which I can then secure them in the hull.  The quarter deck has now been marked out for planking and just waiting for the material to arrive and will start to plank the quarter deck, as this will take time. Photos to follow.

[paul swainson]

As I was doing a shift at a model boat display for my local club I took HMS Illustrious to the display so that any new budding builders and the general public could see what was involved with building model boats be it kit form or scratch from plans.

While I was there I sat a  small table and did some planking work to the quarter deck and also let visitors watch what was being done.  So I enclose the photos of the work  I did and the tools I used to plank the quarter deck.

[paul swainson]

I made up a small temp plate  using a waste bit of ply.  Cut some section of oak wood with a nice clean sharp straight edges and made a grooved "T"  to old the planking strips in place to allow me to cut the same lengths with straight edges to butt up against one another, every time.   Also a razor blade holder to ensure a sharp clean cut every time.   Craft knife is not a good cut as it is too thick.  Then using straight edge laid each plank as per the 3 butt plan down the centre of the deck then changed to a 2 butt plank system for the outer edges of the deck.  To ensure a cock line could be seen I used a HB2 pencil to make the leading edge of each plank to give the out line of the edge and the cork fill.  You can use cotton which can be purchased to give the same impression, but as my deck was not going to be visible from straight on view, I used this method.

[paul swainson]

Once all the planks ad been laid I trimmed off the surplus sections of planking and rubbed down with a sanding block, using very fine sand paper.   The surface was then also sanded down to smooth out any ruff areas of wood and glue.

[paul swainson]

Then using a 0.5mm drill held in a hand holder I drilled out the impression of the retaining floor rivets for each plan butt and then using a very sharp pointer HB pencil marked each rivet.

The deck is then again a light sanding and the deck is then ready to be oiled to seal and ensure the wood grain is shown.   Do not use a brush, use a cloth and only lightly  rub the surface, allow to dry and do again.

I ready enjoyed this work and when all the items require to fit out the quarter deck and lighting is fitted it will I am sure look very impressive.

During the two days I was at the show I had lots of enquires on how to start the hobby and did point then to Deans Marine for the range of boats which would well suit a starter and off course local clubs.     

[paul swainson]

If you want to view any of the build photos in greater detail then please view them on my Flicker ling below.

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/92998762@N02/sets/72157640833731444/