Princess Elizabeth build...

[mjt60a]

The 'not very clear' photos I had look like the vents are rounded at the ends but I've seen a better pic which shows they are like those on waverley, I'm not going to change it now but a better way would have been to make the 'outside' holes a bit smaller and the straight cuts wide of the holes, like this (see below) still, never mind, it looks OK at a distance and I did say it wasn't to be accurate scale.....

[mjt60a]

...The two 'outside' pieces are glued together and a small semi-circular piece fitted at the centre - I read somewhere that there is a carving of a cockle shell on there so I tried to make that too, plus the name plate (from 0.5mm styrene and model rail 'station name' lettering) The result is not too bad I think...
...you can see from these pics that I'd already started building the sponson cabins(?) before taking the photo and had almost finished and painted it in the last one... I'l cover those in more detail next time  
*I've since seen a picture of the cockle shell and it's not like the one I made... more like the 'Shell Oil' logo, like a clam shell....

[mjt60a]

Here's what it should look like (this is the real ship!), I still have to add that protective woodwork on the black area (which I now see I made a bit too low! - just like it seems to be in the kit version - I'd intended to put that right on my one   ) It looks like the lettering is cut into the board, not raised as I thought it would be but I don't know how that could be done, I probably won't be able to do the scrollwork at the ends either...

[mjt60a]

...the black area (which I now see I made a bit too low! - just like it seems to be in the kit version - I'd intended to put that right on my one   )...

in these pictures you can see how the builder has dealt with that, on the first, the line just drops to the lower level and on the second it's drawn at a diagonal. On mine the paddledrum sticks out much more than on the kit so I'll paint it at a diagonal on that area...maybe I could hang rope fenders on it to disguise the error...  

[Eddy Matthews]

I think your being too fussy Mick, the paddlebox you've made looks like a damned good representation to me!

How did you do the very thin lining around the paddlebox vents? I've never had any success trying to do thin lines like that, especially ones that have a curve!

Regards
Eddy

[mjt60a]

which thin line do you mean? around the outside edge? I'm just coming to that 
Next I cut a strip of 1mm styrene sheet to cover the paddledrum, it's 65mm wide and long enough to wrap over the end pieces I bent it a bit so it almost fits without trying to straighten out then glued and taped it in place. On the outside ones, it sticks out a little bit over the edge but on the inside it is sanded smooth. By the way, it's easier to do this before adding the nameplates and such details incase any sandind is needed on the outside edge plus if it all goes wrong you dont waste the nameplates!

[mjt60a]

Oh, I just thought, did you mean in the picture with 'cropped detail' on it? that's the real ship!

[Eddy Matthews]

which thin line do you mean? around the outside edge?

My mistake Mick - I see now that it's actually a seperate piece of styrene that has the vents cut in it, so the line I saw is actually the edge of that piece, where it stands proud of the backing....

Eddy

[djcf]

Paddledrums......To start with I drew this shape on a piece of 1.5mm styrene sheet, I used black (because light doesn't shine through it) so it didn't show on photos what I was actually doing, so I've drawn diagrams instead....

Good idea, I will get some black sheet for that purpose. Your paddle drum/fan vent assemblies look great, nice job!
Also noticed on the pic of the real paddlebox that the black looks lower anyway, or does it just look like that in the photo?

Clark

[mjt60a]

 going on with the sponson cabins then, I cut a couple of pieces of 1.5mm styrene sheet to what I thought looked about right - 330mm long, 50mm wide (that is, high, when fitted) and stuck the paddledrum on them so the shaft position will be 165mm from the front and the lower edge of both items is flush. The top of the paddledrum stick up about 10mm above the top. when it's set I cut out pieces for the base of the cabins and for the top, the top ones have large openings cut out so I can still get to the inside for fitting portholes (possibly lights too) later. I also decided to fit the top pieces about 5mm lower than the 'wall' and cut out part of the wall to that level. This is because the lifeboats are positioned part on the sponson deck (at promenade deck level) but also part on the promenade deck itself - so for access to batteries etc. the whole thing will have to be removeable, it'll probably need some strips of wood/styrene/whatever to run right across the deck to keep it level so this will leave room to do that... (I hope!)

[mjt60a]

....on the pic of the real paddlebox that the black looks lower anyway, or does it just look like that in the photo?

Clark

I think it's just the angle the photo was taken, in pictures I have showing the ship approaching a pier, the black area is a continuous line from the bulwarks at the front, right across the paddlebox, to just below the windows at the back. In the closeup of the paddlebox you see some white below the paddle vent then a horizontal black strip of wood(?) parallel to the white and with the big blocks at the ends (to protect the paddledrum from hitting piers?) I'd assumed that the bottom edge of the opening (the frame-like bit with the spokes etc in it forming the fan-shape vent) was the same height as the bulwarks but I see now it must be a bit higher otherwise you get that effect where the line has to drop down somewhere

[mjt60a]

....Once all the frames are in place (and all look straight!) I cut a strip of 1mm styrene sheet 50mm wide, long enough to cover theframes and profiled(?) to fit up to the paddlebox, and glue them on using tape and clamps (and clothespegs) to hold it all in place while it sets

[mjt60a]

Once both sides are done, I attached them temporarily to the hull using pairs of magnets (and the algae scraper from the fish tank) In the photo, I'd also built the front part of the superstructure to check the position of the door opening, it's built in a similar way to the sponson houses but starting from the base which I'd drawn on card earlier, before the bulwarks went on (I knew It'd come in useful!) I'll go into more detail on that later. Another thing I haven't mentioned yet, partly because I didn't think of it and partly because everyone else uses a one-piece hull was the position of the point where the hull separates in two. I made this to be between the two halves of the doors where it's easier to disguise/account for a split running down the hull (under the sponson deck it won't be visible anyway) With the door opening in place and the sponson house just behind the door opening I now see if the paddleshaft position on the sponson lines up with where I drew it on the hull.....
...strangely, it's about half-an-inch out! I think I put the paddledrum a bit too far forward (about 13mm) - but it's hardly noticeable, I hadnt drilled it out yet so I'll drill it so it's in the right place in the paddlebox...     

[mjt60a]

To make and fit the paddle shafts....
I bought a length of brass rod and two lengths of brass tube, the rod is the same size as meccano shaft, one tube is thick wall and fits closely over the rod, the second tube is thinwall (I'd have got thick wall but they didn't have any) and fits over the first tube...

[mjt60a]

I drilled small holes in both sides of the hull where the shaft will go, put a straight length of (much thinner) tube through it and checked it with a set square against the sides of the hull - perfect!
then put another straight edge across the top of the hull - and the starbd side was a bit higher   so I filed the holes out a bit bigger working more on the bottom of the hole on the starbd side and the top of the one on the port side until the rod was parallel with the straight edge... then continued enlarging the holes until the largest tube fitted nicely into the holes (don't have any pictures of this)
Then I 'cleaned up' about a quarter inch of one end of the smaller tube and did my best to clean up the inside of the large tube without making it too loose a fit over the small one.
The large tube is going to be the equivalent of a prop tube and the smaller one the bearings so there will be a space between them (outer tube and shaft) to fill with lubricant. I suppose they could be made using araldite but I want to add an 'oil tube' to feed the lubricant in and it will have to be soldered so I may as well solder the bearings in too.