While that's ongoing, I've been making the sliding 'bridge' that bridges the gap between the transom door and transom when the door opens.
My first plan was to make balsa formers for the underside and then to attach the rubbing strips directly above so not to stress the styrene too much; I've used 0.25mm styrene for the main part and 1.5x3.2mm strips for the rubbing strips. However, the result was very wavey and an attempt at warming in the oven to straighten it out ended in disaster!
So, the mark 2 version - pic below, was preshapped but taping the styrene to a spaghetti storage jar and heating in the oven. That worked a treat. The only problem is that the balsa formers stop the piece moving properly as the door opens.
So, for the mark 3 version, the rubbing strips were also fixed around the spaghetti jar and heated. Hey presto, it's worked and this is the result.
Quite a lot of work for a what appears to be a simple result!
Phil, I’ve been following your blog with interest. Have you sussed out how to “hinge” the sliding bridge to the transom door? The hinges I’ve been looking at online are all far too big. Cheers. Kev.
ReplyDeleteKev,
DeleteThanks for your message. I've got some smallish hinges for dolls house furniture from my local craft shop. I think Squires Tools do some if you've not tried them. In my head, the hinges will be hidden by the transom door and the bridge so it may not matter if they're a little large.
What's the smallest hinges you've found so far?
Phil
Thanks for responding Phil.
ReplyDeleteThe smallest I’ve found online are nylon hinges 11.5mmx8mm off the Bay of E, but I feel they may not be robust enough. I like your idea of slightly large hinges (…methinks brass for strength) which could be hidden under the sliding bridge. The production boat shows the hinges exposed on the transom but I suppose these could be “painted on”.
I’ll check out Squires tools.
Looking forward to seeing how you sort out the mast. I’ve built and wired up mine for working lights and radar but just trying to figure out how to mount it (again on hinges/pivots) so it can be raised and lowered via snake tubes.
Thanks again for your help.
Kev.
Hi Kev,
DeleteNext post will be the mast but it's taking a lot of trial and error. I'm planning to use brass brackets for the hinge and then, if all goes well, a snake link/flexi link concealed as a hydraulic ram. I've still to figure out the wiring for the lights and I'll have to scratch build a radar housing again! Have you come up with a solution yet?
Phil
Ayup Phil.
ReplyDeleteThe mast wiring was pretty easy. I used 5mm LEDs with lens covers. The LEDs I filed down the tops then glued on a circle of tin foil (from a hole punch) to reflect the light back down into the bulb). Slightly off-scale but pretty effective. For the wiring, I used a computer mouse cable as these are really thin. I used the unshielded wire as a common earth for the LEDs thus cutting down on the number of cables needed. As the production boat has external wiring, bunching wires together just about simulates the wire trunking [when painted black].
For the radar, I stripped down a micro servo and used the vac-form housing with 3-4mm styrene as a filler between the two housings. It’s a bit off-scale again but looks pretty good (I.M.O).
I made my own radar arms (the rotating bit) out of balsa because the vac-forms with the kit are totally the wrong profile.
If you let me have your email address I’ll post you some pics (or if you don’t want to publicise yours for fear of getting swamped, mine is red110kev@gmail.com). J
For the mast hinge, I’m thinking along the same lines as your good self. I’ve got a high torque servo in place below the life rafts which will power 2 snake links, which will be hidden in 2 brass tubes to simulate hydraulic rams.
Regards
Kev.
Hi Kev,
DeleteThat's really useful ta. I'll email you in a mo, I'm not fearing being swamped from this, just from spam!
I used various cable from Maplins for my Trent wiring but will have a look at a mouse cable. I used the sleeve from a cable on my Trent, glued some brackets on and then threaded the trunking through after painting. To my surprise the paint flexed on the trunking and didn't crack off. So that's the plan again.
I thinking I might be able to wire the LEDs in parallel so only one +ve and -ve wire needed for each for the white nav lights.
I was wondering whether to use balsa or various shaped styrene strips for the radar arm so will try both. I've used balsa for a few components and it seems to take a lot of work to get rid of the grain.
Still, onwards...
Phil
Phil,
DeleteRe the balsa grain - mine just took loads and loads and loads of cellulose dope to "fill" the grain prior to painting.
Re the LEDs in parallel, what voltage powersource are you using? If it's of any help I've got a spreadsheet in Excel with the resistor values needed for various combinations of LEDs and power source voltages I could email if you need it?
Kev.
Cheers Kev,
DeleteI'm going to use a 4.8v pack with a single 200 ohm resistor for each LED on the circuit. I was going to use a separate resistor for each LED but a guy at my local club pointed me to a single resistor and as he knows his stuff, I'm giving that a go. Failing that I've got a load of resistors and strip board so your spreadsheet may come in handy if you don't mind emailing it across.
Phil