Sir William Wallace

[Eddy Matthews]

The build continues.... I was put off doing it for a while after the "accident", but here's how it's looking this evening after replacing all the damaged parts...

[Eddy Matthews]

I managed to spend some time on the Sir William Wallace this week - The bulwark capping strips are all fitted, the the car deck and foredeck are both planked. They've been stained with some strong coffee to darken them a little, and will have some very dark grey dry brushed onto them to darken them up some more and give that dirty appearance that the real decks had.

The small square lying on the deck shows the colour of the planking before staining...

[Eddy Matthews]

I've started to build the bridge section of the SWW - Here's a quick couple of photos of it just resting in place to see how things look....

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks David,

It was a real fiddle to do, the bridge deck has a pronounced camber from side to side, and means that every little part had to be made to fit as I went along - Virtually no right angles in the whole structure! I swore and cursed at the damned thing more than once!!  :rant

It's still not perfect by any means, but it's as good as I can get....

[ky paddlewheeler]

looks great eddy,it makes me want to scratch build something,but Im having to much fun with my nitro trucks  

[Bill Hudson]

For a wood darkening /aging solution I found soaking a pad of steel wool in a bottle of white vinegar works very well.  Paint this on your wood and it will give an aged look.  Try it on scrap first.  

Bill

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks Bill, I'll have to give the steel wool/vinegar solution a try on the next model I build that needs the wood giving an aged look - It's not a technique I've heard of before.

[Eddy Matthews]

I've posted a couple of short videos of the Sir William Wallace undergoing it's first on the water trials today.... You can find them by clicking on "videos" from the main webpage.

Apart from an electrical glitch that blew up one of the speed controllers and shorted out one of the drive batteries - Walter Snowdon loaned me another controller and battery - it performed like a dream!

The model is slow, but so were the real boats. It goes at a realistic scale speed and will turn on the spot with independant control of the paddlewheels - Much better performance than I thought would be possible given the very small wheels on these ferries!

So I have to say that initial impressions are very good - It even looks as if it has enough stability to carry a few vehicles on the deck without becomming top heavy!

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's....as Eddy quotes...

The model is slow, but so were the real boats

In .AVI DSCF0055... someone offers the comment 'full ahead' & the model of  Sir William Wallace seems to pick up speed quickly

So from viewing the video, the SWW to me does not appear to be SLOW  :ohno after all it was not a speed boat.......................Derek  

[Eddy Matthews]

Hi PD's....as Eddy quotes...
So from viewing the video, the SWW to me does not appear to be SLOW  :ohno after all it was not a speed boat.......................Derek  

It does accelerate fairly well Derek - But with motors that are geared 50:1 it certainly has plenty of torque to do so!

As we all know, "slow" is a comparative term. So yes it is slow, but perfectly fast enough for the type of model it is - Any quicker would be unrealistic.

I expected it to be really underpowered on 6v, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see how well it went - I had always been concerned about the very small paddlewheels and how well they would perform. Admittedly I did increase their diameter a little, but it seems my initial aprehension was unfounded, and the model runs in a very realistic manner. Though it will never break any speed records!

To say I was happy with it would be an understatement! I was absolutely delighted... :yeah

[ky paddlewheeler]

Looks vary good Eddy,the speed suits the model well

[Eddy Matthews]

A little more work has been done on the Sir William Wallace.... The bridge is now fitted, as well as the funnels, and the paintwork has been started.

The wiring for the naviagtion lights (at either end of the bridge structure) is hidden inside the funnels. It was the simplest way to keep them out of sight.... The navigation lights themselves still need to be fitted.

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's - Eddy..........the large disc on deck level....is it to represent a turntable for vehicles :?: & what are all of the perforations in the deck :?:

[Eddy Matthews]

Hi PD's - Eddy..........the large disc on deck level....is it to represent a turntable for vehicles :?: & what are all of the perforations in the deck :?:

The vessel had a vehicle turntable Derek - I assume the "perforations" you mention are the planking lines. They don't come out too well in a quick snap. Sadly I'm no David Bailey when it comes to using a camera!

[Eddy Matthews]

Not a fantastic amount of progress on the SWW - Too many damned hospital appointments! But it has progressed a little...