Sir William Wallace - Second build

[Eddy Matthews]

Don't you just love it when a plan falls apart......

This morning I thought I'd take a look at the drive system as it needs to be installed early in the build to make access easier - The Graupner wheels I've modified take 3/16" diameter rod for the axle, but the sprockets I need to use for the chain drive are 5/32" diameter. The spockets have a brass collet bonded to a nylon sprocket so drilling them out to 3/16" diameter would cause them to fall apart! And finally I have a choice of two different motors I could use, one has a 5mm output shaft and the other has a 6mm output shaft, so the sprockets don't fit on them either!

I think I have a solution to all of these problems, but I need to have a word with a couple of the engineering guys in my club to see if what I have planned can actually be done - I'm no engineer, so I'll put forward my suggestions and then take their advice on the matter. Hopefully they will be in a good mood to perform the necessary modifications!

Eddy

[Dinosaursoupman]

Hey Eddy,

Can you get a 3/16" shaft and have the motor end turned down to 5/32"?

Randy

[Eddy Matthews]

Hey Eddy,

Can you get a 3/16" shaft and have the motor end turned down to 5/32"?

Randy

Yep that is the plan Randy - The guys at my club said it could be done okay, and they will also turn down the output shafts on the motors, so problem solved

Eddy

[Eddy Matthews]

I nearly had heart failure today.... In one corner of the room were the two parts of the main deck (fore and aft, divided at the paddleshaft), and in another corner of the room was the basic bridge assembly I've made - I looked at them and thought, the bridge isn't wide enough!! Bearing in mind it's supposed to be almost as wide as the main deck..... So I thought I'd made a mistake with the measurements on one or the other, and had visions of redoing one (or both) of them!
 
But thankfully, it was only an optical illusion!! - Place the bridge across the deck and it's correct! But when the two parts are seperate they look totally different in size!
 
Today I managed to add the timber that goes right around the deck at the outer edge - 10mm square! So it's far too big to bend into the relatively tight curves at bow and stern. I did it with 10mm x 3mm timber - Glue the first one to the outer edge of the deck and then add another two to get a 10mm thickness (okay technically it's 9mm but the glue joints add the final 1mm)... Since the deck is in two halves, and there is left and right on each piece, it meant a total of 12 pieces of wood to get the correct size, so it's taken all day with loads of clamps and then patiently waiting for glue to dry...... Thankfully that's one of the most time consuming bits over with!
 
Now I really need to get the hull back - Then I can finally trim the deck to size, and get the deck and hull glued together. Then everything else should start to fall into place!

Eddy

[Eddy Matthews]

I've now got the hull back after having it fibreglassed inside and out. It needs a bit of work on the bow and stern, but nothing that an hour or so of elbow grease wont cure!

The deck has been cut to shape, so I can now get an idea of the finished size of the model - 60" long, with a 19" beam. Although that's a fair sized model, it won't be too heavy because of the very shallow hull. Having had three lots of spinal surgery, and a back that is now held together by metal rods and screws, the weight of a model is something I have to take seriously!!

Attached are a couple of photos showing the model with the deck just lying on top - I won't fix it permanently until I have the drive system installed.  To give an idea of how much bigger it is that the last one I built for Andrew Gray, the first photo shows his 1:43 scale model siting on our sofa, the last two photos show my current 1:32 scale build...

As it's my daughters birthday tomorrow, and wednesday is club day - it will be thursday before I can get any more work done

Eddy
Regards

[Eddy Matthews]

Well, things didn't go as planned - I expected to get back to work on SWW on thursday, but I ended up doing taxi duty for my wife and daughter all day. Friday I was away at a model show, saturday consisted of tidying the garden, and today I was at my local boat club, followed by the F1 grand prix.....

However, I have managed to get the deck glued to the hull and the paddleshaft fitted this evening, so now I need to wait for the slow setting epoxy to cure..... I had to get something done to try and keep up with Talisman!

Hopefully tomorrow I can do some final sanding on the hull ready for the paint to be applied - Until then it doesn't look a lot different to the last photo I posted showing the deck just resting on top of the hull, so I won't bore you all with another almost identical photo!

Regards
Eddy

[Eddy Matthews]

Hmmmm... Still nothing to really show anyone, but some progress has been made.

A couple of the guys at my club who are into metalworking have taken the motors I have so the shafts can be turned down to suit the drive wheels I want to use, and another chap is knocking up a couple of brass rudders for me - Hey I hate working with metal, so these guys are a godsend to me!

it will probably be next week before I get the parts back, but I can cope with that!

In the meantime, I've finished the final sanding of the hull, and I've started cutting all the parts for the first of the paddleboxes - Unlike most paddlers, the SWW has paddleboxes which aren't the same left and right (or port and starboard if you prefer). One has a ticket office at one end, which means they are different sizes - Although at a quick glance they look the same!

So it will probably be another week before there is any real progress to show in the way of photos, but once I have all the parts together, I hope I can complete the drive system and the paddleboxes in a day or two..... Then things should really start to take shape quite quickly!

Regards
Eddy

[Eddy Matthews]

Here's the progres as of this evening..... Deck glued in place, paddlewheels and axles fitted, and a start on one of the paddleboxes....

Once the paddleboxes are done in the next few days, the progress of the major part of the upper cabins and bulwarks etc should be pretty quick...

regards
Eddy

[Talisman]

It's taking shape will you have a single drive shaft  or independent? what did the real boat have ?
I do like your spring clamps much more exciting than the usual Black

[Eddy Matthews]

It's taking shape will you have a single drive shaft  or independent? what did the real boat have ?
I do like your spring clamps much more exciting than the usual Black

Thanks Kim, hopefully by the end of next week the paddleboxes will be complete and the raised fore and aft decks will be fitted along with the bulwarks that link the two. Then it will actually start to look like something rather than an aircraft carrier!

The real boat had independent paddles with it's twin diesel/electric drive system, and the model will have independent drive as weill

Hans Freund (Scotfriend) is over here from Switzerland right now, so we're off to a new model show in Lytham St Anne's today - Hopefully I can get the rest of the odds and ends I need for the detail stuff later in the build?

Regards
Eddy

[Eddy Matthews]

Does anyone know of a source of 1:32 scale diecast vehicles?

I have a few for the SWW, but I could really do with more - Preferably British vehicles from the 1950's or very early 60's.

If anyone can help, please let me know!!

Regards
Eddy

[mjt60a]

I got a ford anglia and a jaguar XKE from the science museum gift shop, they also had an 'isetta' and a morris minor/traveller but the morris looked like a larger scale and the isetta was out of stock last weekend.
I've also collected a box set of airfix car kits (viva HA, escort Mk1* and triumph herald) from ebay plus a few individual ones that turned up from time to time (austin healy sprite, mk3 zodiac, triumph TR3, 'bullnose' morris), all with the intention of one day finishing the 1/32 scale Tattershall Castle....

...this is the type of thing... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Airfix-Triumph-TR4A-1-32-Kit_W0QQitemZ250423807501QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ToysGames_ModelKits_ModelKits_JN?hash=item250423807501&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1688%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A2%7C294%3A50

could be worth looking out for old airfix racing cars, just the body shells would do as the rest can be fabricated if they're just going to sit on deck.... I know they used to make a Mk1 cortina and a mini.... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SCALEXTRIC-AIRFIX-AUSTIN-1100-CAR-Spares-Repair_W0QQitemZ360155806864QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Toys_Games_Scalextrics_Slot_Cars_ET?hash=item360155806864&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1688%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A3%7C294%3A50
*some of these are probably a bit too new for your ferry, especially the escort*     

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks for that Mick - I'd prefer to stick with diecast vehicles rather than plastic kits if I can. They turn up on Fleabay occassionally, but they are almost always sports cars, and a deck full of sportcars just wouldn't look right

I have a VW campervan, Landrover series 1, Citroen 2CV, Fiat 500, Austin FX4 taxi, and an Aston Martin 1.5 litre sportscar.

Finding the "run of the mill" vehicles from the late 50's is like trying to find hens teeth! Ford Anglia, Zodiac, Prefect - Morris Minor, A35, A40 etc etc.... I'd also like to find a few commercial vehicles such as a removals van, and a bus/coach.

So if anyone sees anything like that on their travels, please give me a yell....

Regards
Eddy

[Eddy Matthews]

I've managed to make a bit more progress in the last few days, so the SWW is slowly starting to take shape. With a bit of luck I'll get the motors back tomorrow as a clubmate is turning the shafts down in diameter to fit the drive sprockets I want to use, then I can finally get the drive system sorted while everything is easy to get at!

Regards
Eddy

[Eddy Matthews]

More progress has been made, but nothing worth photographing.... The rudders are made and have been given their final shape, and the rudder tubes are fitted to the bow and stern.

Then I started getting all the parts together for the drive system - Motors, sprockets, chain, motor mounts, and axles for the paddlewheels - I was about to start fitting them when I suddenly realised the paddlewheels would stop me from painting the hull! So at that point I stopped...... Hopefully we'll get at least one decent fine and calm day to allow me to get the hull painted soon! Until the hull is painted the drive system will have to wait

So now I'm patiently waiting for the unpredictable British weather to play ball for once!

When the hull is painted and the drive system is installed, I'd like to give the model a first test sailing, just to see if everything works as intended!

Regards
Eddy