Steve D

Zhiyuen is a protected light cruiser, ~50 ft longer but displacing almost 3 times Jason @ 2,300 tones. Protected cruises had an armoured deck to provide some degree of protection against plunging fire. I believe armoured cruisers had a side armoured belt to resist more horizontal direct fire. The debate seems to have raged through the 1880's driven by expectations (or dogma) of engagement distance and fire control/accuracy. Checking Conway, Britain did not have anything quite like Zhiyen, mounting 8 inch guns on such a relatively small vessel. The closest I can see is the Marathon class of 2nd class cruisers (1887/8) which mounted 6 inch BL's, though more of them. (see HMS Magicienne below) Zhiyen looks a bit like a coastal protection vessel to me, heavy guns but probably not designed for ocean cruises the way RN vessels were... It's interesting to me that RN warships all had to have foreign service in mind as a key design consideration because of the needs of the empire. German dreadnoughts for instance were really only designed for short raids and so had many more water-tight doors, crews slept ashore. Its interesting the way these design considerations impact thinking, but I've wandered way off topic.... However, you are right, the TGB's were designed to look a bit like contemporary light cruisers from a distance but were unarmoured so pretty venerable to cruiser fire. A 6 or 8 inch shell would probably go right through... But there are lots of similarities in appearance and colour scheme, good spot.. Cheers Steve

Davits swivel one at a time, not together, that way you pass the boat between them. So, looked at from the top, both can swivel counter clockwise say 30 degrees, then the right continues to swivel counter clockwise until the left one has to follow turning clockwise and the boat passes diagonally through the gap. Cheers Steve

I don't think so, these are flush rivetted steel hulled vessels, not timber. I think that's just the red oxide paint, gone light wiht age Cheers Steve

So, now we travel back in time, to 2003 when I started the build. In those days, the Brass Foundry (the Maritime Museum archive) sold full size photocopies of their plans. Jason has a number of sheets available, conveniently at 1/4" to 1ft, 1/48th scale. There are sections, a GA, below deck, main deck and boat deck plans, the lines of course, a rigging plan and one plating cross section showing where the plates are in and out. The key drawing missing is the shell expansion, which was a blow, but I will explain how I worked out a reasonable approach to the plate layout later. The hull is plank on frame, 3mm ply frames and 3mm thick Obeche planks which gives plenty of meat for sanding. A mixture of 12 mm and 6mm wide plank were used, the narrow planks on the round of the bilge. The rounded stern is carved from a block and the stem plate is brass as this bow comes to a knife edge for ramming. Also, embedding a brass stem prevents over sanding. The keel is "T" shaped with the cross on the "T" being inserted between each frame as they are added. Here is the beginning of the frame installation, the string line helps make sure the frames all line up at the top In the stem plate is the angled bow torpedo tube, the plate is epoxied into two wood cheeks, note the admiralty drawing in the back-ground This process then continues until it looks like this. The frame encompasses the opening for the forward shelter deck and raised forecastle. The sheer-line frame plank runs through to the bow to strengthen the join. Note also the diagonal framing on the main deck that prevents twisting while planking the hull This is a twin screw vessel, so the prop-shafts were let into the frames and the transition tube turned and mounted before planking. Note the tube for the forward rudder The A frames were then made up in brass, here being silver soldered And here epoxied in place. Note here I've added the main rudder hinge assembly and the first propeller scratch made in brass. I never got around to making the second prop, so these may be replaced with a cast bronze props, still thinking that through. Victorian props had blades that were mu9nted on disks that were bolted to a central boss, I can get that detail into a casting, very hard to do otherwise. Planking next Cheers Steve

Ok, so I said I would be out for a few months due to the move and the need to rebuild my workshop, still that doesn't stop me building in my mind and on the computer. As I cleared the workshop, HMS Jason had to be moved, for the third time now. I made a decision, this would be the last time I move her. I'd always said that I would complete her when I retire. Well, I'm retired now so there are no excuses. So, here is the plan. I've found many pictures I took of the build all those years ago and scanned them so the story so far can be told, it's just 18 years late. Then while I'm sorting out the new workshop and house actually, I'm going to work on fittings on the computer so that when I get back to being hands on, the process will be faster than before. Also, this one will probably be for sale at the end. The house really can't take too many 5 foot models, still that's a decision for next year, on with the story... As the Victorian navy moved away from steam and sail to pure steam the old hybrid gunboats looked very old very fast, lovely though they were. The threat of the new fast coastal torpedo boats needed countering, and so these Torpedo Gunboats were developed. Really they are like mini-light cruisers, not only capable of defending harbours and also colonial duty around the empire. In general, the idea (like many Victorian naval developments) was not a huge success, mainly due to the locomotive boilers that were used. However, Speedy, the only one of the class to be built by Thornycroft's, had more modern naval boilers and was faster and far more reliable The Alarm class was the fourth and last class to be built before the true destroyer type developed, along with turbine propulsion. These were a step change in vessels for this service and made the TGB's redundant. However, they soldiered on through the 1st world war, 2 as submarine depo ships and others converted to minesweeping duties. 4.7inch gun mounted minesweepers!! HMS Jason was laid down in September 1891, launched in May 1892 and lost to a mine in 1917. She was 230 ft long, displaced 810t and carried 2x 4.7 inch QF Elswick guns on a Mark 1 pivot mounting. She also carried 4 3prds and 3 torpedo tubes, one in the bow. As a redundant throwback, she sports a ramming bow, helpful for surfaced submarines... From a distance, the profile could be mistaken for a light cruiser Here she is in black, white and buff livery of the Victorian navy. These are the colours I shall model And again, dressed for a special occasion To give you some idea of what I hope this will turn out like, here is a contemporary builders model of a very similar vessel built in Britain for Brazil in the 1890's I love builder's models.... Why did I abandon the project all those years ago? There were a number of reasons. I started her too soon after completing HMS Medea (RFI thread coming soon). That project had taken 4 years and I dived into HMS Jason immediately afterwards, one year on, I was just a tiny bit exhausted with the whole thing and so stopped modelling and built a car instead... Also, a number of areas were not working out well enough, the bilge keels were rubbish, the deck houses were not crisp enough, my plans for internal lights were too ambitious etc etc. It all built up in my mind and so I shelved it. Now I ready to get back, sort out the problems, and get this beast finished. This is a big serous model, I actually can't wait to get back to it. Looking forward to sharing the journey Steve

Postscript image, Here she is in her display case (one of Peter Jones great glass and oak cases), safe and ready for the move (I will be moving all the boats....) New build thread coming soon, I can't keep away.... Cheers Steve

Nice 👍

Very cool Kev, tissue paper, the most underestimated building material.....👍

Thanks Greg, the build thread is here Fairmile B

Interesting couple of details there, the Fairmile B also has an emergency tiller seen here the black curved rod circled in white. They go hand in hand with a circular access plate that allows them to engage the rudder shaft(s) directly I love these little details the best, see also above a couple of buckets, buckets are fun to make, these ones are made from 0.10" copper Re the lack of a toilet, I agree, examining Fock I can clearly see one on one of the early boats, but not later. It seems an odd omission if true, but I guess as short duration raiders, they were paired to the bone... Great job on the conversion, you are also building a fleet Cheers Steve

Lovely finish Beefy She looks all ready to star in Tom Hank's movie Greyhound which seems to show America winning the battle of the Atlantic in early 1942. So, just completely the wrong time, role and ocean for a Fletcher class destroyer Steve

Very cool

Very tidy finish Arjan.. One small question, what is the timber pole on the port side by the gun platform? Cheers Steve

Thanks David, now there's a thought.....

From memory, it was a comment I read made by an RN officer who claimed the boats were filthy after they surrendered and included that snippet of extraneous detail. This may of course be put down to a natural sense of superiority on the part of a victor.... Anyway, I like including buckets on my models, also useful for cooling barrels and washing down decks Steve

Just think of it as work David, that way you won't feel guilty You should, as I've said, my pet hate is ship models with standing out starched flags, they need to fall naturally. Weight the bottom corner while the weak PVA is drying and the shape comes with ease. Also the folds naturally cover all the mistakes from the painting 👍 Thanks Rob, the answer is no, I've not given that any thought at all, I'll look into it. One week into clearing the garage, we are going to need a second skip, hands up who hates throwing away perfectly good offcuts of timber .... My workshop comes next, sigh.. Still, the move will give me the opportunity to design a better one, this will be my fifth, hopefully I'll get it right this time Thanks Stuart, that is my goal, to show kit builders (who I admire btw, in particular the way they can paint) not to be frightened of going off piste and building whatever vessel they feel like, not just what is available.... Thanks Beefy, much appreciated. This one was quick I know, partly the pressure of the move, partly there are not too many details in fact, the SGB for instance contains a lot more components. Likewise, the information we've both posted will make it much easier for anyone following to add the right touches Lastly, thanks again for all your support. I'm very glad I joined this forum, the community means a lot and has greatly assisted my passage through lockdown. Lets hope the shows open this year, so I can show my work and hopefully meet some of you in person In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back...."

For a comparison, here she is next to the vessel that was designed to counter the threat, the Denny Steam Gunboat I built last year, waterlines the same. The model is intended as a companion to the SGB Cheers Steve

Following on from my Build Thread here is the model on its shiny oak base. The vessel modelled is S-46, one of only 12 s-boats fitted with the 40mm Bofors (according to table 13 in Fock). The model is fully scratch built from plans obtained from Paul Stamm Modellbau in Saarbrücken, supplemented with other drawings from various publications and some excellent unpublished photographs provided by @Arjan for which I am very grateful The hull is solid wood, built up using balsa infills between ply frames, the superstructures are largely copper, supplemented with etch brass made by 4D to my drawings. Many of the other components are 3D resin printed also to my own drawings. It is painted using Vallejo paints from their Kriegsmarine set and weathered to look like its having a hard war. The following extract is from S-boot net describing how the boat was lost On 10.09.1943 the Red Army landed in the city of Novorossijsk. Six days later the town had to be evacuated. On 11.09.1943 Soviet ground attack aircraft attacked the boats of the 1. SFltl returning home. Not impressed by the defensive fire they pushed down to 10 m height and fired with onboard guns. On "S 46" all engines fell out, the torpedo in the port tube exploded and tore the forecastle off until the bridge. In spite of the ongoing attacks "S 49" went alongside and took over the partly severely wounded crew and two killed in action. The boat was then sunk with a torpedo. She is modelled as she was in 1942 serving with the 2nd flotilla based in the pens at Ijmuiden, as per the picture below. She is equipped for fast minelaying She is mounted on turned brass pillars on French polished solid oak. The name plate is from engraving studios, £12.50, good value and fast turnaround. The oak case is not ready yet, a couple of weeks away hopefully The papier mache canvas sides worked well this time. They sit slightly concave between the stanchions and have a nice level of weathering. The waterline is my own mix oily green weathering, very dilute Vallejo paint, stippled on and wiped off a number of times, resulting in a dark weathered line with a slight green hint The ensign is hand painted and soaked in weak PVA before drying in shape, the transfer was printed on my laser printer on transparent waterslide decal paper, the decks are canvas covered as per real practice View of the rear, note the slop bucket. I read somewhere that the crew had no head, they used a bucket and chucked it over the stern, had to include that detail. The mines are UMC mines, 3D printed with added wire detailing, the Bokors is made from 40 odd brass turned, etched and shaped pieces Midships and bridge detail, the lookout is there to show the help people understand the scale View from the air Comparison post coming later with my SGB Cheers and thanks for the support during the build Steve

Thanks David, I just rediscovered the pictures so thought it would be nice to show how a drawing in a book can become a working RC boat without too much effort. It went very fast until I tried to turn it., lucky I was running it on a canal... Makes you want to build a real one.... Steve

Here are the dress shots She ran well and got on the step but that rudder was useless so the turning circle was a mile or so, not great. Really, I should have added a Perspex clip-on rudder for running her to provide some actual comtrol Cheers Steve

Continuing my little post, below the underside showing the forward fin for lateral stability, the whole painted in high gloss cellulose spray paint. The demarcation between the paint and varnish with a small walnut trim. To the right you can see the mountings for the rudder. The shaft is external but the actuator runs in through a slit trimmed with brass. The prop shaft is stainless steel running to a two bladed high speed prop The deck is built up with cross curved beams, the inner curved beams are the framing for the engine cover. Note, I had to add a little lead at the front to achieve the correct trim More progress on the deck framing and the timber strips of the cowling added. You will see that I've also added mahogany duck boards Th sub-deck is made up from 0.8 mm ply, shown here being glued in place With the deck glued and planked in walnut, the inner engine cowling frame is formed from laminated timber strips to fit. The deck breams have been cut out. The spine timber supports the cowling cross frames The strip wood was added to form the double curvature shape of the cowling. This plus the rear cowling were covered in heat shrink fabric of the sort used on model aircraft. The real boat was also fabric covered The cockpit cowling has been epoxy coated and painted high gloss white, ready for the dashboard, engine turned aluminium with brass bezels on the instruments (I think the gauge faces were from a model aircraft set). To the left is the throttle which is connected to the on/off switch with a rod so the boat can be turned on without removing the cowling. The seat in the foreground holds the battery pack And lastly, here it is complete. Note the tiny rudder Steve

Very tidy Kev, looking great Steve

Continuation, I wasn't sure how many images a single post can contain. I should have added that the model is ~25 inches long by 5 inches across the beam Here is the backs hull framing all in place. Note the small stringers between the main frame, not sure the model needs them but they were full scale practice. The transvers beams are removed later The next picture I have shows the motor and prop tube mounted The propshaft runs at a very shallow angle and has a single outer plate support. The prop is a high-speed prop, in brass, I have no clue where I got is but its right for the boat Here is is mounted to the boat, note countersunk screw holes holding the plate in place, I was fussy all those years ago .. I believe those are cap nuts, what was I thinking? The steering wheel and rudder were scratch made from brass, shown here painted Here is the dash panel in place and the steering wheel mounted. I think at the time I ntended the steering wheel to move with the rudder servo, at least I gave that bit up.... The seat is the battery box, works the CofG well Last picture for today, the arrangement of the RC controls and wiring. The hull has been coated with a 2 part epoxy paint inside and out to waterproof everything and here the inside has had it green final colour coat. The lower hull has also been planked in 0.5mm walnut strip Upper works and RFI pictures tomorrow, very short thread, hopefully of some interest Cheers Steve

I'm back, this time with a history thread. One thing about moving, you get to clear out stuff and my wife came across a box a photographs of a model I built ~20 years, a Darby Hydroplane. The pictures chronical the little project quite well, so I'd thought there might be some interest in my posting the build here. This will be short and quick (as its historic), but it does show some techniques that may be of interest. The idea came from a copy of the MotorBoat and Yachting Manual, but frustratingly, the copy with the lines in seems to have gone missing in the intervening years. This is the 13th edition, I think the lines were from the 11th edition but I can't be sure These turn up on old bookshops (if any still survive) for a few pounds, I'll keep looking, it must be here somewhere. If it turns up, I'll post the lines, also I can't see my own drawing, so I must have redrawn them on paper... For the history of the boat, it was created just after the war to help get people into small powerboat racing. It was small enough to build in a single garage and used (I believe) a Ford standard 8 engine, inboard. This description is from the Oulton Broad Motor Boat Club history page The Club received a boost at this time when Guy Batholomew, a director of the Daily Mirror newspaper, became interested in the racing whilst on holiday in the area. Keen to revive racing after the war, he commissioned Alan Darby to build six identical single step hydroplanes powered by British Anzani 350cc engines. These craft were hired at £10 for the season to local businessmen during the early 1950’s. The idea proved a tremendous success because the following year these drivers went out and bought their own outfits. The popularity of inboard racing continued into the 1960’s thanks to the Albatross Marine concern at St Olaves who produced a range of aluminium runabouts. The boats were a hard chine design with a small step and must have been a lot of fun to race around the Broads The boats were built upside down by positioning transverse frames on a building frame, so I decided to do the same, the string is to keep everything straight. Being 1:12th scale, a lot of this build is almost full scale practice First 4 frames in place The frames were made like you woudl a model aircraft, pinned onto greaseproof paper while the glue dries, then mounded on a removable transverse beam which is located in the build frame The stem piece was laminated on a former It runs back to frame 6 which is the step Chine corners installed here Once all the frames were in place, the lower hull ply was added, 0.8 mm thick, you can see the rear hull binds in past the step to frame 3 The hull can now come off the build frame and the upper transom piece and sheer timbers added The wood is a mixture of lime and spruce

Exciting 🙏