JohnWS

Hey Martian, I don't like it ... I love it! Your Corsair looks great & with a very realistic finish. John

John

Thanks everyone for your comments & support! There's been more work going into modifying the Perkasa parts than I originally anticipated. Having said that, it's still nice to be able to continue to re-use/recycle the old kit. Once I get the new deck in place (and the end of summer is in sight), the build should start moving a little quicker. ... and thanks Rob. You've added a new word to my vocabulary. A bonus! John

I was hoping to have the new main deck installed for this update, but I ran into a detour. I was doing a little more research & found that Brave Borderer had three rudders, as opposed to the two rudders included with the Perkasa model kit. Unfortunately, what I thought would be an easy addition of the third rudder turned into a time consuming domino project. The kit rudders & the additional third rudder could not be relocated as the new rudder locations interfered with the location of the three kit propellers. So, the kit propellers had to moved forward to give more room for the three rudders. This resulted in having to reshape the outboard 'shaft logs' (where the prop shafts enter the hull), and scratch building & relocating the centre shaft log. Also, in addition to having holes & cavities in the hull after moving the rudders & props, I found a number of molded indents in the hull surface, as well. All these indents, holes & cavities needed to be filled, as shown below. I couldn't find a photo or detailed drawing showing the actual rudder & propeller shaft locations, but I did find a sketch of a side view of BB that included the rudders & propellers. I used this sketch to estimate the actual locations, as close as possible. Finally, new propeller shaft supports needed to be scratch built. Here's where I'm at today; Now maybe, just maybe, I'll have the new main deck made ... and attached to the hull ... for my next update. Keep your fingers crossed. Thanks again for looking in. John

This brought back one funny memory ... I was having breakfast in rough seas on a gate vessel (another trawler-like design). I carefully put my plate of bacon, beans & eggs on the table in front of me & my cap on the bench beside me. The ship lurched, my cap slid onto the deck upside down & my plate of bacon & eggs landed squarely upside down in my cap. I was able to clean out the cap, but every time I wore it in the sun from that time on there was an slight aroma of pork & beans lingering around me.

Slowly! I've relocated the 3 Perkasa model's prop shafts & added a third rudder (the Perkasa kit has 2), plus a lot of filling & sanding on the hull. I should have a photo update soon. John

Looking good, Stuart! John

Wow, that's a lot of work! It looks like the rework & PE parts are worth it. John

Hi Kevin; Yes, those are great shots. I met with small group of my old Navy buddies for a reunion on Sackville in 2010. It was a warm summer's day and it was stifling hot below decks. My Dad said that within a day of leaving port on the convoy runs, the Corvette's lower decks were awash with seawater, & they stayed that way 'til arriving at their destination. I can't imagine what those sailors had to cope with while on board. John

Kevin; I'll be watching your build with great interest. My father served in these little ships on the North Atlantic run during WWII, while serving in the RCN. I've toured the Flower class corvette HMCS Sackville a couple of times during visits to Halifax, Nova Scotia, & have taken a number of photos. Let me know if I can can help with any details. John

You've convinced me too.

Hi beefy! Please accept my condolences, as well.

Hope you recover from the shingles virus as quickly as possible, Terry. John

Awesome wheels Steve! Another great example of what a little creativity & having the right tools can do. John

Nice to see you back in the boatyard Kev. Only 22, eh? Amazing! John

, , & Beautiful work Richard. John

Awesome build, Steve! I'm still amazed at your metal working skills, & being able to achieve such fine detail. John PS: The size of that shelf in your study looks like it was made specifically for this model.

Great detailing Martian. John

I've heard the same Stuart. Remember the issues I had with Shapeways on my Elco PT build - lots of broken parts during shipment plus some warped parts. This time everything was packaged very well & no warping ... so far! The detail of the 3D printed parts can't be beat, so hopefully they'll stay that way until I'm ready to use them. John

Not too much modelling done since my last update. But, I have spent a little more time on planning on how to proceed with this build. Brave Borderer's armament included two Bofors guns, one forward & one at the stern. I considered re-using the Bofors gun from the Perkasa model & scratch build a duplicate 2nd gun. However, my lazy side took over & I decided to order a couple of 3D printed Bofors from Shapeways, instead. I found Shapeways offers a 1/72 scale Bofors on a MKVII mount that should work on BB. I'll need to add a couple of electrical/hydraulic boxes to each gun but, overall, using the 3D guns will save some time during the build. The 3D Bofors arrived today. The detail looks pretty nice. Here's a photo; Another piece of equipment that's shown in some of Brave Border's photos is a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (Zodiac) located on the foredeck. Again, after contemplating scratch building the RHIB, I took the easy way out and ordered a 3D printed Zodiac from Shapeways instead. It also arrived (Gosh, it feels like Christmas in July ). The detail is acceptable & should look okay, once painted. Here's a photo; I'm currently puttying & sanding down the hull to remove some molding dimples before adding the new deck from plastic card. I'll show the results in my next update. Thanks for looking. John

Very nice, Steve! That camo scheme is almost too good as it hides a lot of the details in the photos. Out of interest, what are the dimensions of the case? John

Hi Terry. I ran into the same problem on my BPB MTB build. I fixed it by carefully (to not break the PE at the bends) re-bending all the saddle bends the opposite way so the flanges are bent inwards & the bolts are facing up. An easier solution would be to leave as is & just bend the flanges inwards. If you do decide to cut the flanges off, check the fit of the saddles over the TT's see if there is enough saddle leg length to attach to the TT rails without the flanges. John

Looking great! The camo scheme & shark's mouth certainly sets this sub apart from the rest. John

I'll be following this build as well, Rob.