albergman Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 (edited) Hi all I've been at this off and on for a while but I've decided to post some shots of this project now that I'm back at it. It's for a friend who had this boat in the charter business for many years in the British Virgin Islands but has since sold it. This line of Beneteau's is particularly well built (a German Frers design for those who care) and can handle heavy weather with grace. My wife and I joined them to sail it from Tortola to Antigua (via San Maarten) and back in stiff headwinds going south and it was a treat to sail. In recent years Beneteau started to build a line of 51 footers for The Moorings charter business and, though pretty, they were just not the same animal. Lightly built, "bendy-boats" they became nicknamed. So, this will be just a half-hull, shaped from Renshape and at 1/2" to the foot makes it 26" long. They're not a particularly pretty boat "out of the water" as the hull is enormous given that it has 3 cabins, each with its own head and also a spacious main salon and galley but in their element make for a pretty sight. Here is the actual boat doing her thing ... Found these drawings of her and I've resized them and printed them to the required scale. There's enough here to get the major outlines correct. I've scoured the interweb for pictures which combined with my own on-board shots I hope to get a pretty close approximation of where things go. So ... here we go. My supply of Renshape was pretty low so I had to supplement it with the largest chunks available in my scrap bin. They're glued, screwed and the gaps are filled with good old car repair Bondo. Impressive eh??? Eventually she gets filled in and after many applications of Bondo and time spent with an angle grinder, belt sander and an orbital sander she starts to look right. Below you can see I've added some detailing around the cockpit and started marking out where all the deck hatches and windows will go. For many flat surfaces I use those little samples of Arborite and Formica you can get at the hardware stores to help you decide what colour counter tops your wife wants. My wife tends to be VERY indecisive so many samples are "liberated" for the cause. They're really nice because of their strength and perfect flatness and squared edges ... plus, they glue very well with CA. Here's the ugly (behind the curtain) side where the cockpit has been hacked out. This is stuff you never want the owner to see! Here's the little module that forms the cockpit sole and some seating ... mostly done with aforementioned samples It just slides into place when needed. I'm leaving it out for now. Everything looks a bit rough at this point but bear with me. Back later Frank http://www.britmodel...flying-scotsman http://www.britmodel...ilt-triumph-tr6 http://www.britmodel...tsy-wooden-cars http://www.britmodel...uilt-half-hulls http://www.britmodel...rt-fishing-boat http://www.britmodel...build-lola-t70/ http://www.britmodel...agon-tarted-up/ Edited January 22, 2016 by albergman 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted January 9, 2016 Share Posted January 9, 2016 Nice job, interesting to see it develop ...... Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Fascinating. It's a bit like doing stage props - If the audience can't see it... Have to say I'mnot much on modelling bits no one can see. At my time of life, I don't really want to spend the time in there! Thing that's always put me off yachts is all those plated or stainless bits on deck, winches, turnbuckles..... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 Fascinating. It's a bit like doing stage props - If the audience can't see it... Have to say I'mnot much on modelling bits no one can see. At my time of life, I don't really want to spend the time in there! Thing that's always put me off yachts is all those plated or stainless bits on deck, winches, turnbuckles..... LOL stage props. Actually everything shown in the pics above will be visible. I'm pretty close to 80 so I don't have time to waste on things that won't be seen either! However, I really do enjoy hacking a tiny metal item out of a cast off chunk of aluminium or whatever. I think that's the aspect of scratch building I find most satisfying. Good thing we're all different eh? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 LOL stage props. Actually everything shown in the pics above will be visible. I'm pretty close to 80 so I don't have time to waste on things that won't be seen either! However, I really do enjoy hacking a tiny metal item out of a cast off chunk of aluminium or whatever. I think that's the aspect of scratch building I find most satisfying. Good thing we're all different eh? Oh I agree with nailing anything that can be seen! Those pits are amazing. Please tell me you have a lathe and don't file them out of solid b hand! Aluminum is a good choice. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Oh I agree with nailing anything that can be seen! Those pits are amazing. Please tell me you have a lathe and don't file them out of solid b hand! Aluminum is a good choice. Thanks Seadog. The only power tools I have are: a bandsaw, 6 Dremels (crap Chinese ones - all with flex shafts so I can keep different bits in them) and hobby woodlathe. The lathe came with a flat faceplate to which I attached a 3 jaw chuck. This is fine for turning larger pieces but for a tiny winch it's too close to the spinning clutch jaws (and they HURT!!!) so I dismantled an old power drill and salvaged the chuck which now fits into the 3 jaw chuck ... much safer. I just use a tool rest for machining everything from Renshape to aluminium. I buy selections of cheap Chinese wood carving tools and shape the ends to suit any special purpose. They are made of hard enough steel to cut anything I want to shape. I know it's really crude but it gets the job done. Frank 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) I'm starting today on the stainless steel stanchions which, with a white covered steel line threaded through their tops, form a safety barrier along the edge of the deck. In real life they're pretty useless and usually too low to be effective. Anyway there's a special pair in the picture above which have extra bracing. They are on both sides of the boat and the white cable can be disconnected between them to allow easier access to the deck from a dinghy for example. Crew tend to heave themselves aboard by grabbing the stanchions of the gateway so they need extra reinforcing. I'm fabricating the stanchions from 1.5 mm stainless rod (actually S/S welding rod) and it's very hard steel, I'll want a hole at the top of each post to allow a fine white wire to be threaded. First I take the hardness out of the steel with a torch. Then I use a small hammer to flatten the softened steel so I can get a drill started. I use drills about .8mm and work up ... using lots of oil and coolant. Eventually the hole is big enough to accept the wire. Incidentally the wire is just something I salvaged from some old computer cable. There's usually a good assortment of tiny, coloured wires in any such cable and they're great for say ... ignition wires on a model engine. Next I want to shape the rod to look like the real thing which means it should taper down to a ball end ... where the hole is. I don't take any care where I've drilled the hole because it's easier now to just shape the steel around he hole. This I do with a cutting stone on a Dremel flexible shaft. Once the ball is shaped round the hole I put the rod into the chuck of my "lathe" and run it up to a good speed. Again I use the same cutting stone to delicately shape the taper. I spend a few minutes in the lathe with fine wet-sandpaper (800 - 1000 grit) and smooth out the tool marks then polish it at high rpm with metal polish. Two stanchions took about an hour and a half. Hmmm ... one needs more ball handling. I'm going the make these two into the "gate" I talked about so I set them into their holes in the deck and added a drop of CA to lock them at the right height and with the hole facing fore and aft. I next cut the support rods, bent them to the right angle, dropped into their own holes, glued once they were tight fitted to the big one ... silver solder applied. File off excess solder and polish. These will actually be removed from the holes so I can do a better polishing job. More later. Frank Edited January 22, 2016 by albergman 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul E Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Very impressive model making skills on display here and I am learning as you go along. More please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Impressive stuff! Your power tool selection is like mine, although my bandsaw got sold in Portugal before we left...mistake. Here's a pic of my goodies. All Proxxon and bought over a couple of years while we were still in Portugal. Like you I also have a selection of cheapo chisels and for serious carving I've built up abasic set of Flexcut gouges - good for carving small hulls and the like.I know what you mean about those chucks - easy to seriously damage a fingernail. I hadn't thought of using a drill chuck. The Proxxon comes with a set of collets, but a full size chuck would be more useful, I think. I haven't tried turning ally, but think it's time I had a shot at it.... Meanwhile, it's a pleasure watching thisbuild come together! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Great stuff........... More please Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 Impressive stuff! Your power tool selection is like mine, although my bandsaw got sold in Portugal before we left...mistake. Here's a pic of my goodies. All Proxxon and bought over a couple of years while we were still in Portugal. Like you I also have a selection of cheapo chisels and for serious carving I've built up abasic set of Flexcut gouges - good for carving small hulls and the like.I know what you mean about those chucks - easy to seriously damage a fingernail. I hadn't thought of using a drill chuck. The Proxxon comes with a set of collets, but a full size chuck would be more useful, I think. I haven't tried turning ally, but think it's time I had a shot at it.... Meanwhile, it's a pleasure watching thisbuild come together! Hello again Seadog Thanks for the comments. You have some interesting equipment there. I like the smallness of the pieces as my own shop is VERY small. I take it that's a small table saw in the foreground? Often thought I'd like a proper modeling lathe but I'll struggle on with my jury rigged outfit for now. Everything happens on this tiny benchtop A few projects languishing and awaiting their turn on the bench ... Back later Frank 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I have a corner of our garage, the rest of it is filled with stuff that won't fit in the Bungalow, washing machine and all, fortunately with a window to my left. Only drawback is the lack of insulation. The little oil radiator isn't cheap to run for any lack of time. I like your shed, I'm guessing that with Ontario winters to cope with, you have it well lagged and heated! The little Proxxon table saw is very useful. I made the cross-cut table for it. The blade does tilt but the mech is quite crude. Newer ones have the table tilt instead, which is probably better. Micro Mark in the States market them under their own name. Doesn't happily cut thicker bits of wood - which is why I'll be getting another bandsaw when I can scrounge the pennies... You can silver solder stainless? didn't know that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 I have a corner of our garage, the rest of it is filled with stuff that won't fit in the Bungalow, washing machine and all, fortunately with a window to my left. Only drawback is the lack of insulation. The little oil radiator isn't cheap to run for any lack of time. I like your shed, I'm guessing that with Ontario winters to cope with, you have it well lagged and heated! The little Proxxon table saw is very useful. I made the cross-cut table for it. The blade does tilt but the mech is quite crude. Newer ones have the table tilt instead, which is probably better. Micro Mark in the States market them under their own name. Doesn't happily cut thicker bits of wood - which is why I'll be getting another bandsaw when I can scrounge the pennies... You can silver solder stainless? didn't know that. Spot on about my shed. Couple of years ago when I decided I like model building and it was going to be my retirement "thing" my youngest son came over for a weekend and we gutted my original layout of the shed. He then insulated it for me and tied it into the heating ducts running close by in the house. That's enough to keep anything from freezing and if I go out and turn on a tiny electric heater for 20 minutes before starting "work" it's toasty warm ... too warm in fact. Table saw: don't think I'd have much use for one except to cut the occasional base for a model. The band saw is a good compromise for me. Using a "3/8 wide" blade it does a passable straight line in wood but with the narrow, high teeth count blade it cuts all my aluminium and everything softer. Silver solder. Yes, the key is to get the right flux ... I'll get the name for you if interested, it's a liquid. You also need a 5% silver-content solder. Works perfectly when everything is clean and fitted tightly together . Beauty of it is that it is much stronger than old solder, polishes as shiny as the stainless and, more importantly, doesn't tarnish. This tiny ladder for a powerboat model has many joins, and all look as shiny today as when I did them 5 years ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 I learned a bit about silver soldering in a jewelry course I took in High School. The stuff I use comes in a hypodermic syringe with it's own flux in the mix from Cup Alloys here in the UK. As it's in a syringe you can apply tiny amounts really easily. Have to check it out on Stainless, though I'm not likely to use much stainless on Sailing ship models! The circular saw is mostly used for producing very small sections, like deck planks at small scale. Not much co at 15mm of hardwood... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 On to the next step ... not really next but I enjoy making these tiny pieces. The yacht has a very large self-tailing winch for controlling the genoa sail. The real thing ... 12" diameter at the base. I didn't have any stock of large enough diameter but I found 2 aluminium tubes that fit one inside the other but with a tiny gap which needed a strip of brass shim stock to fill it. Turned the large tube first ... . Next I glued in the inner tube with the brass shims. Turned the small tube down to its needed diameter. Sanded with fine wet sandpaper and polish with metal polish on a rag. Not bad so far ... Next I turned the top, black section (tailer) from a tiny, black plastic screwdriver handle ... no pics sorry. Lastly was the tiny rope guide that steers the ropes into the tailer. This made several escape attempts into the carpet and almost succeeded but I found it at last. Used a fin from an old computer heat sink which had the requisite thickness and is always a lovely "soft" aluminium and easy to work. Basically I cut a small square out with shears then drill a hole which I slowly widen till it fits over the top of the winch. Once that's done I start filing away the excess, bend it to shape with needle-nose pliers, wet sand to remove scratches then metal polish. The hole is a tiny bit over 1/8" I.D. The finished product ... just needs a black base which will come from the same screwdriver handle AND a winch cranking handle. Look sort of like the real thing? More later Frank 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Looking good Thanks for taking the time to detail how you went about it Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 I'll second that showing the steps turns a mystery into something that might...just be feasible for the likes of me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Could call this "Much Ado about Nothing" but I think someone used that title before. Some of you guys seem interested in the process of making parts from scratch so here's another tidbit. I need to make a couple of fairleads which are used to run dock lines from a cleat on deck to shore. There will be one at the bow and a matching one at the stern. You can maybe pick them out in this shot ... like a large letter "C" lying on its back I'll need a chunk of aluminium that's fairly thick as these are substantial fittings so from my parts bin I've selected the "chassis" from an old computer hard drive that I dismantled. These are made of a nice alloy and have many thicknesses. I'll be using a section of the side wall in the foreground. I'm hacking it out with one of these surplus bits from (I think) the electronics industry. They're great for lateral cutting. Using the tool mounted to a flexible shaft on my (Chinese) Dremel. Tidy up the gap with a small square section file ... Hacksaw the rough-shaped piece out. Lots of filing to narrow the piece down. Aluminiium takes a nice smooth shape when sanded with 800 or 1000 grit wet sand paper. Here's the pair. Remember these are less than 1/4" long so they look pretty clunky here!! Still in its unsanded condition but you get the idea? Thanks for watching. Frank 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Neat idea! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 Very nice! Some years ago I actually considered buying some sheet silver to make fittings for a sailing ship model, it's so nice to work with...Common sense and budget prevailed and I went with copper and brass, both of which blacken easily enough to mimic iron! I wonder if one could anodise aluminium black at home.... Thanks for posting this. Educational as always! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 Not a lot done today. Decided to add a couple of deck fittings that the rigging attaches to. From the aluminium parts bin I selected this heat sink because it has parts cast at right angles so I won't have to deal with soldering or other forms of "glue". So, sawed out a corner piece. I'm going to use the second fin in from the right and part of the base. Snapped off the 2 outer fins with pliers as a start. I'll spare you all the hacksawing and filing so I hope you can see how I got from the above to this. Only took about half an hour. Another piece from the heat sink was enough for the other fitting ... this is only about 1/8" across!! Made a start on a couple of ventilators but I'll save that for another time. Thanks for looking in. Frank 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted January 24, 2016 Share Posted January 24, 2016 I reckon you must have a miniature scrap yard in your workshop Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted January 24, 2016 Author Share Posted January 24, 2016 I reckon you must have a miniature scrap yard in your workshop Kev Almost enough to retire on from the scrap value Kev!! I can't resist taking old electronics apart (VCR's, old 35 mm film cameras ... for the tiny bolts!, computers etc) as you never know what you'll find that will come in handy someday. As a scratch-builder you can never have enough "scrap" . I've got separate bins of aluminium, brass, tin, plastics, small bits of wood and all the off cuts from Renshape, urethane castings and a misc bin! Cheers Frank 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albergman Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 Hello Again Been a bit remiss about this build and now it's finished and given to its new owner yesterday. If anyone is still interested in the build process I'll get back to it. Meanwhile here's where she finished up. Actually it's on a crap backing board as I've invited her new owner to source and finish a backing board of his choice ... Frank 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 That is a beautiful piece of work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now