Turning the Tables

I've not posted for a while because first, work on the Tamar slowed for a while and secondly because my camera broke so I had to get a new one.

The reconstruction of the coaming and cabin floor is coming on.  The floor is nearly done and the coaming cut down and now needs capping.  I was a shame to cut out what was a nice coaming molding but needs must.

I've also been carrying on my upgrade of the wheelhouse detail.  Work on the seats continues, as does work on the armrest controls for the SIMS system and the throttle and steering controls for the helm and cox's seats.

I have though finished the navigator's table, as shown below.

This is a little guess work with the table top measurements taken from the RNLI plans but the rest was guess work from photos.  It's probably not 100% accurate but it's a reasonable guess.  I've got a chart to go on after painting as well!

Next up is the framework behinsd the cox's seat.

In the Frame

My production line of seats is taking far longer than I anticipated.  I now have one complete, or nearly complete crew seat and am working on the other 6 but progress is slow.

So, to progress, and since the update on my last post, I've butchered the floor former for the cabin.  That's involved removing the sides and front with the lock tabs for the cabin floor.  I've also cut new pieces to fit and secure the lowered floor.  Next stage is the reconstructive surgery to fit the new parts.

I've also made the first seat frame which will I think be for the crew seat on the port side at the rear of the cabin.  The two forward posts fit through the seats and are 3.2mm tube.  The tops are 4.0mm alloy tube and the side braces are 2.4mm brass.  I've used the RNLI plans for the frame size rather than the instructions.  All that's left is to finish the shock absorber on the centre seat back.

Here's a pic of the (nearly) finished seat.

If You're Sitting Comfortably ...

So this post is about the wheelhouse seats.  Since buying the kit, I've always thought the vac form seats were a little one dimensional (in the metaphoric sense) or simplistic if you prefer.   The windows in the Tamar are also bigger than the Trent so I reckon the seats would be quite visible.  I looked at various model car websites in search of racing car seats as replacements but they were pricey and not particularly like the boat seats.  So on to plan B.

Looking at my reference photos, the seats have a headrest not on the kit parts, the support frame runs through the seat back and there are armrests.  Also, the seat belts are blue Sabelt ones which I wanted to add.

Hopefully the photos show what I did but here's an explanation;

First, I cut holes in the seat base for the supports which I decided would be better in 3.2mm tube (not 4mm as in the kit).  Next, I glued a small piece of 4.8mm (inside diameter 3.2mm) tube at the top of the seats for the support tubes to run through.  Then I used 1/8" (3.2mm) balsa strip in 1/2" and 1/4" widths for the seat cushions.  Plasticard was then glued to the back of the balsa on the headrest and arm rest supports - this has two functions: to fit flush to the vac form seat and; stop the balsa splintering when I drill the holes for the seat belts.  I used Bostik Serious Glue to bond the balsa to the vac form and the plasticard to the balsa.  This I had from another project - it's not that cheap and is horrible if you get it on your hands like I did; it won't come off until dry after about 30mins and sticks to anything you touch in the meantime, but it did the job really well.

Then I roughly shaped the balsa using abrasive paper and files.  Large aps were then filled with Squadron filler as my usual filler of choice Humbrol wouldn't bond to the balsa, though it did work in other places.

Next I sanded the cushions to shape and drilled the openingd for theseatbelt holes.

There are 2 more significant parts to add to the seats themselves before moving to the frames and bases.  First, the central support will be added from 4.8mm tube and faired into the seatback with filler.  I believe this is the shock absorber as there's a spring at the base which I'll be making later.

Secondly, I'll be making the armrests, hopefully with the integrated SIMS controls and throttle & steering controls at the appropriate stations.  Also, I'll be making the support frames.  As the full size seats are carbon fibre, I've yet to decide whether to just paint them black or whether to add carbon fibre decals.

UPDATE
This has become a lesson in the law of unintended consequences!  I had checked the modified seats would still fit using the plans.  However, I forgot that the plans aren't all to scale so it turns out there's not enough room!  So, what to do - it's major surgery time!  Not entirely sure how to do it but I'll need to lower the cabin floor and chop down part of the coaming on the deck moulding.  At least this will bring the wheelhouse floor to the same level as the deck which is the level shown on the RNLI plans.

Step On

So, I've been battling with the side steps over the last few weeks.  These were a real pain on the Trent and as the Tamar ones a vac formed I thought they would be tricky but easier.  Also, I wanted to make a backing plate to run parallel to the hull sides under part 17.  In the end, I replaced the kit parts 17 with 4.8mm wide styrene strip and glued triangluar pieces to the bottom to cover the void underneath.

So here's a pic of the vac for parts fitted.

The problem was though that the steps simply flexed too much when I was blending them in to the hull with filler.  I also thought that on a working model they would not be robust enough.  So, the vac formed parts were removed and I rebuild them from 1mm styrene which I'm much happier with. 

These are now in place and I've trimmed the cabin sides to fit.  The photo just about shows the modified replacement parts 17 with the triangular blanking plates.

I had hoped to start painting some parts by now as it's always nice to have patrs completely finished.  I also had in mind to paint the red on the lower half of the hull.  However, the cold snap has put pay to that, so I've now started on the wheelhouse interior.  I'm busy improving the crew seating at the moment so more on that next time

Preaching from the Pulpit

I've now moved to work on the bow/foredeck area.  I've now finished the pulpit rail, using the plastic tube and steel rod included in the kit.  I toyed with using alloy rod left over from my Trent, but decided against it on balance.

One obvious omission from the kit is the mini crane/hoist next to the pulpit rail.  I made this using 2.4mm brass rod and 0.5mm styrene.  The RNLI plans and my photos of the full size boat were invaluable for this.  I also made the extra section of deck plate on the starboard side from 0.5mm styrene, which was also used for the front anchor housing and 1mm styrene for the crane mounting.

Also, I made the bow roller.  The webs on the side were angled back slightly as my photos and the RNLI plans showed this.

There's no before and after shots because I think the finished but unpainted picture shows all the parts well enough.  The bolt heads are photo etched from Speedline models which I'm using around the boat.

Next up, I'm tackling the side steps.

Time at the Bar

After a fair bit of swearing(!) I've not finisted the transom bar and stern rail assembly.  For some reason, the rail itself seemed harder than the stern rail on the Trent; even though I thought it would be easier.

There are no pre-ssembly photos as you can see all the parts in the pic of the finisted item.  I'm pleased with the end result though glad the railings are now (nearly) all finished.  Just the rails for the flybridge now.

The rails seem fairly solid, though I managed to split the transom bar and had to repair so I've slight concerns on this front.  The stantions are all pinned to the top rail though due to the steel wire running through, the pins are only the thickness of the plastic tube!  I found it impossible to drill through either brass or steel wire on these parts.

Anyhow, pic of the complete assemble is here;

Last Orders at the Bar

Right, I've now finished one of the biggest challenges on the build, and also made it harderfor myself to boot: I've finished the transom bar.

The first job was to seal the dowel, but mine was jagged on one side.  So that took filler and time to put right.  I almost bought a new dowel but my local timber merchant didn't carry the right diameter.  So, with the filler sanded smooth and after several coats of sanding sealer, rubbing down each coat, it was time to get sawing.

Having seen the full size boat, there is are two angled pieces at each end of the bar, not one, so I decided a modification was needed.  Using the kit plans as a base, I drew the revised shape, together with cutting angles.  These were worked out using the RNLI plans.  I used my mitre box to get vertical cuts and held it over the drawing to get the correct angle.  A tricky operation all in all.

With all the parts cut, they were glued using superglue gel, fine tuning the angles where necessary with the superglue acting as a filler as well.

Then the stantion uprights were added.  The two uprights which pass through the top and bottom bars have a thicker bottom section so I used 4.8mm plastic tube there.  Hopefully the photos show this all clearly.  I've also added the deck base plates but these need a little more work.  The whole of the upright at each end passes through the deck rather than just the stantion partly because that seemed easier than shaping the bottom of the uprights to fit the deck camber but mainly because I pinned the bar assemble ot the uprights to add strength and the pins stop the stantions running all the way through the uprights.

I'm off to work on the other railings next.