Topic: My build of HMS Solebay.

[colin]

at 1:96 you would probably better of with some brassetched port holes... rather than solid ones..!!

Portholes flanged http://www.deansmarine.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/products_id/680
Portholes non flanged http://www.deansmarine.co.uk/shop/product_info.php/products_id/750
brass etched port holes (shops closed at the moment so can not see them) http://www.johnrhaynes.com/

[paul swainson]

Thanks for that Colin was also looking a lace hole eye lets which go small too.  The dock-yard ones seem to be 3.4 mm o/d wide with with a 2.5 I/d.  Will need to have a look and see what they look like in a ship.   Will visit the Glasgow club who have lots of RN ships built by them.  See what they have done.  Hope you had a Merry Christmas and I have enjoyed my goodies.   Hope your family is in good health and having a ball.
Paul

[colin]

a friend of mine down the road is building the Majestic class (HMS Hannibal) and he has used cable / wire Ferrule's to make his port holes, this is also not a bad idea, and can be made up away from the model, once all is painted they can be inserted into the holes and sealed from inside the hull.

Christmas was not bad at all, i am in the UK for Christmas, visiting Family, so far every one that we have visited were doing well, thanks for asking.. 

[paul swainson]

Well I have received my new decks and also Deans sent me a new card with the support decks to.   This time I cut out the deck and used the new deck supports removing the would units I had used before as they where too small and caused the problem.   After fitting and cutting the deck fits great and have all the space that is needed for the sea boats and deck equipment.   Just to finish off the installation of the running gear and set up the motor plate and I?ll be ready for bonding the deck in place.

[paul swainson]

Well after a long look at different ideas I finally went for exterior diameter  3mm brass tube with an internal diameter of 2.5mm.  The section was 300mm long.   I cut off sections 3mm long and then filed the edges down so that they were smoother and then fitted them to each port hole in the hull.  As the port holes had been drilled to 3mm each one fitted nice and tight and with the odd exception they look very good in deed.   I will now bond then from the inside to ensure a good seal and then use clear glue to form the glass effect.   I have taken a couple of pictures to show how I cut each section.   Using a block of wood drilled a 3mm hole pushed the brass tube through and then using a cutting tool cut section 3mm long and then using very small file trimmed them to fit.  When the hull is primed they will look very nice.

[paul swainson]

Hi Joe,   Can you help with a small problem I have.  I see from your photo,s that the rear deck risers have been bonded to the inside edge of the cut out section but the front gun deck the risers look as though they have been bonded to the surface of the forward deck buy some way (2 to 3mm).  Can you advise as I was going to bond the raisers to the inside cut.  Paul.

[radio joe]

Hi Paul,   yes they are different, I made the superstructure modules up before I did the risers and was glad I decided to do it that way as the aft opening which I had already cut out to the lines was a bit too big to bond the risers on top, (just one of those Deans quirks you have to get over) so I centered the module over the opening and marked the outside with a sharp pencil and allowing for the thickness of the walls trimmed the opening out and bonded the risers to the edge having first put strips around the under side so as to double the thickness of the deck and make a larger bonding area.
The forward opening was about 4mm smaller all round so I centered the module over the opening as I did with the aft one and bonded the risers on top of the deck again allowing for the thickness of the walls plus a clearance amount as you don't want it too tight, also you don't have to follow the shape too closely on the aft end of the forward module. Hope this helps Paul,I see yours is coming along nicely.

[paul swainson]

Thanks for that Joe,  I have started to build the supperstructures and have not yet bonded the decks.  So with your advise will build the base for both front and rear gun decks and then cut the deck to suit before bonding the deck.   What do you think of the port holes?  Paul 

[radio joe]

yes port holes are going to look fine, they must have been very fiddley to do, but better than fitting over scale ones that tend to look like bootlace holes.

[paul swainson]

Well have done the B gun deck and part of the bridge, found the markings in some place too small and on others too large,  cut out the bits then measured each to fit the main structure.  Some need to be enlarged and other to be cut smaller.   I have enclosed photos of the build.   I used Joe idea to build the lower section of the B gun deck and then using the center line of the supperstructure plus a measurement of 25cm from the bow up held it down with tape marked the the out line of the structure to the deck (still not bonded to the hull at this point.)  then using a 1.5mm gap marked the out edge of the raisers so I know were to bond.  Then taking the front and rear raised placed and bonded to the lines marked with the center line for each piece. then fitted fitted each piece from the rear to the front stopping at each bonding and checking that the structure fitted OK until all the raisers were in place.  Sanded them down till the structure was flat.

[paul swainson]

Then I cut out the top section of the B gun deck.   I then measured the flag deck parts and using the same method I had to enlarge and reduce some parts to fit the walls of the flag deck.

[paul swainson]

The top deck has not as yet been bonded so I can play around with measurements.  The bridge was my bigest problem so I cut out the main sections, trimmed the base ensured it fitted correctly to the top of B gun deck.  The started with the rear panel of the bridge I struck in place using small bits of masking tape.  then worked my ways round measuring and trimming each section until they are all in place and held with masking tape.

[radio joe]

Hi Paul, nice going ,all looking very familiar, you sure have got the hang of it you should have no trouble now

[paul swainson]

Then I when I cut out the bridge deck found the rear panel was too high as the deck did not fit flat and also the observation cut outs the section to build up were too small.  So I before I Bond the the bridge section I measured the new height of the rear panel and cut to suit.  Then removed the tape I had used and bonded each of the panels in place ensuring it was nice and square.   Instead of doing the lower search light decks (44 & 45) first as per the instructions I did the smaller observation cut outs using surplus 0.5mm material I cut and boned in to place and then trimmed to suit bridge cut out.   Then build the other decks (44 & 45) to suit and then fit in place.  The made up the the wind breaks for this deck first.  Would recommend that the two wind breaks are done to gather so that you get the same spacing on both sides.

[paul swainson]

The half finished bridge now in place (still not bonded yet) still have the inside to do.   I again cut the 3mm brass tube to cut out my port holds.   So the next step will be to  fill all the gaps with plastic padding and rub down to a nice smooth surface and then bond the B gun deck to the lower structure and trim to the correct edges.  Then I can fit the under deck supports beams add a bit of detail the the under side to give it a bit of life. then I think the water light doors and any piping and little bits of detail should be bonded to the sides.   Then primed ready for the top coat.   Cut out some deck covering place in position and then paint with the rest of the supper structure.  Or should I wait till the other part of the bridge is done.  I feel the bridge should be painted before it is bonded in place as it will be a lot easier to handle?