ML196 Fairmile B - Landing Craft Control

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

On 1/6/2019 at 7:15 PM, beefy66 said:

Well no parties for a while but if you fancy a good Crac in March I will be in Benidorm for St Patricks week and you have to dress like this

 

 

beefy the leprechaun  🍀

Pfft. You dress like that at Perth too.

[Danny L]

“Many Thanks yet again for coming to the rescue of a naval modelling dullard!”

 

Hello  Rob,

I  would  not  say  that.  The  information  you  were  after  does  not  seem  to  be  readily  available.  None  of  the  books  that  I  have  read  had  this  information  in  them  and  neither  could  I  find  anything  online  when  I  wanted  to  find  out  about  them.

 

In  the  end  I  visited  the  archives.  Did  not  get  all  the  answers  but  enough  to  get  a  general  idea  and  I  am  still  looking  for  a  photo  of  the  smaller  Taut  Wire  Measuring  Gear.

 

Enjoying  your  build  greatly.

 

Regards

 

Danny

[robgizlu]

On 1/6/2019 at 4:49 PM, Al Gunthwaite said:

Hi Rob

Those mats look fine to me.  However, have you tried milliput?  Roll it flat on a plastic bag that's been sprinkled with talc. Put it under a lamp to speed the cure (but not, I suggest whilst it's still on the plastic bag!).  Obviously it can be sanded, but also to get rid of any hard edges a rub with wire wool will do the job.

Al

Thanks Al.  I did actually try Milliput (with talc) but without much success.  

 

On 1/6/2019 at 6:06 PM, longshanks said:

 

This is how I initially read this post. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink!

On a serious note it's interesting that the lifebuoy appears to be two colours. If so what colours?

Kev

 

 

On 1/6/2019 at 7:15 PM, beefy66 said:

Well no parties for a while but if you fancy a good Crac in March I will be in Benidorm for St Patricks week and you have to dress like this

 

 

beefy the leprechaun  🍀

I think we really are in Panto season

Beefy that sounds quite a tour!!!

 

Kev - The two colour pics that show lifebuoys suggest Red and an orangey yellow.  (The BPB pics and the US pics of the LCA if that makes sense)

 

Thanks John, Phil and Stuart.  Moore soon - I'm suffering with severe lurgy at the moment 

Rob

[robgizlu]

4 minutes ago, Danny L said:

“Many Thanks yet again for coming to the rescue of a naval modelling dullard!”

 

Hello  Rob,

I  would  not  say  that.  The  information  you  were  after  does  not  seem  to  be  readily  available.  None  of  the  books  that  I  have  read  had  this  information  in  them  and  neither  could  I  find  anything  online  when  I  wanted  to  find  out  about  them.

 

In  the  end  I  visited  the  archives.  Did  not  get  all  the  answers  but  enough  to  get  a  general  idea  and  I  am  still  looking  for  a  photo  of  the  smaller  Taut  Wire  Measuring  Gear.

 

Enjoying  your  build  greatly.

 

Regards

 

Danny

 

Thanks Danny - your searching seems more effective than mine!  I wish the IWM was better catalogued.  I'm uncertain whether they continue to release more pics from the archives or whether they continue to digitise them?

I'm going to have a go at scratching The Taut Wire kit on a Best-guess basis using your rough dimensions.

Regards

Rob

[beefy66]

3 minutes ago, robgizlu said:

I think we really are in Panto season

Beefy that sounds quite a tour!!!

 

Kev - The two colour pics that show lifebuoys suggest Red and an orangey yellow.  (The BPB pics and the US pics of the LSA if that makes sense)

 

Thanks John, Phil and Stuart.  Moore soon - I'm suffering with severe lurgy at the moment 

Rob

OH NO where NOT

 

I have see photos of lifebuoys in red and yellowish colours it may have been in my 466 thread from John

 

Lurgy you need to get out more mate preferably in shorts and NO socks nothing like a good breeze round your bits to get you used to a chill

 

 

beefy

[beefy66]

 

Sorry but it was Mr Longshanks that posted this one and you can see the lifebuoy as red yellow

 

beefy Now trying to be helpful for a change  

[JohnWS]

I had the same problem trying to identify lifebuoy colours for both my Fairmile 'D' & then my BPB MTB.  Back in 2010, I found a colour photo that showed the lifebuoys  painted red and white.  So that's what I painted mine.

 

 

Moving ahead to 2017 & my BPB build I found the MTB photo that beefy posted above, that showed the lifebuoys red and yellow.  So that's what i painted my lifebuoys.

 

The reference photos I used were both colourized from B&W originals.   I've since found a few photos showing life buoys painted red & white, & only the one photo showing red & yellow.  I've always wondered if the yellow colour was correct.

[Danny L]

Hello  Rob,

No  idea  what  the  IWM  online  policy  is  regarding  photos.  They  do  seem  to  add  the  odd  batch  every  now  and  then  and  the  size  of  photos  online  has  improved  from  a  few  years  ago.

 

The  current  IWM  search  engine  is  not  very  good  in  tracking  down  photos.  It  seems  to  throw  up  far  too  many  results  that  do  not  relate  to  the  search  term  that  you  enter,  amongst  other  things.

 

Sometimes  you  get  lucky  while  looking  through  the  results.  Was  looking  for  photos  of  landing  craft  in  Germany  and  found  this  one  the  other  day.

A 31172  https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205162220

 

Ref  the  Lifebuoys.  There  is  some  good  original  colour  film  here  showing  them.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060029165

 

Reel  2/2.  At  0.39  -  ML  -  Yellow/Red,  1.45  -  LCP(SY)  -  White,  5.05  -  Launch  -  Yellow/Red.

 

I  have  seen  a  Red/White  one  that  came  from  a  Landing  Craft  Support(Medium)  in  a  museum.

 

Regards

 

Danny

Edited January 8, 2019 by Danny L

[longshanks]

Thanks Danny

I reckon I'll go with red/yellow

 

Kev

[robgizlu]

On 1/8/2019 at 10:32 PM, Danny L said:

Hello  Rob,

No  idea  what  the  IWM  online  policy  is  regarding  photos.  They  do  seem  to  add  the  odd  batch  every  now  and  then  and  the  size  of  photos  online  has  improved  from  a  few  years  ago.

 

The  current  IWM  search  engine  is  not  very  good  in  tracking  down  photos.  It  seems  to  throw  up  far  too  many  results  that  do  not  relate  to  the  search  term  that  you  enter,  amongst  other  things.

 

Sometimes  you  get  lucky  while  looking  through  the  results.  Was  looking  for  photos  of  landing  craft  in  Germany  and  found  this  one  the  other  day.

A 31172  https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205162220

 

Ref  the  Lifebuoys.  There  is  some  good  original  colour  film  here  showing  them.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060029165

 

Reel  2/2.  At  0.39  -  ML  -  Yellow/Red,  1.45  -  LCP(SY)  -  White,  5.05  -  Launch  -  Yellow/Red.

 

I  have  seen  a  Red/White  one  that  came  from  a  Landing  Craft  Support(Medium)  in  a  museum.

 

Regards

 

Danny

Thanks Danny

That's a great pic of a radar Fairmile - it just makes you think what else is buried in the archive.

Loved the D-day film - some great pics of warship colour schemes and yes - I think the yellow/red or plain white lifebuoys win the day!

Regards

Rob

[Terry1954]

Some superb modelling on this thread Rob, and having just caught up I am really impressed with your work here.

 

Terry

[robgizlu]

On 1/13/2019 at 4:24 PM, Terry1954 said:

Some superb modelling on this thread Rob, and having just caught up I am really impressed with your work here.

 

Terry

Thanks Terry - I really appreciate that.

 

One of my modelling pet hates is stowage or other material that somehow sits un-suspended defying gravity .  Everything needs straps

So here's some...

 

 

I bought some Thick EZ line in Tan which purports to represent rope.  

 

 

I don't think it works 

 

And it's time to whinge about Shapeways 3D moulding again.  As I've mentioned previously - I have an ambivalent attitude towards 3 D moulding.  On the plus side there are objects that are obtainable that really don't lend themselves to scratching.  However the finish and surface quality is to say the least very variable, I'm not sure if this is just the Shapeways 3~D printing process or is common to other suppliers.  I understand that part of the printed object sits in wax during printing and this surface results in the "frosting".  It does impair the finish significantly.  I really don't think I could easily replicate the Flot-anets" and they look great but Boy have they taken a lot of preparation - the following pic doesn't really do justice but the highlighted region on the left is "frosted" and requires gently scraping with the back of a scalpel.  Each piece needs approx 40 mins to clean up  I feel as a technology - it's still pretty immature.

 

 

As a Landing craft control one of the USPs of this boat was the fact that it carried Taut Wire Measuring Gear.  Pre GPS - you tied a length of wire to a known object such as a buoy and then as the wire ran out you measured your distance more accurately than was possible with a ships log.  Loyal readers will know that I produced this ...

 

 

......which was all very worthy having forgotten that @Danny L had reminded me that this was a version carried on larger ships and that there was a smaller version applicable to this Fairmile 

 

The only single reference I have is the line drawing in Lambert and Ross. 

 

 

Neither @Danny L or I have been able to find any photographic evidence that depicts this smaller Taut wire gear in actuality.

 

So on a best guess basis - I had a second go at producing a version and sent it to Danny who was extremely helpful and constructive.

 

So Take 2......(I'm not going to expose myself to ridicule showing you version 1 )

 

 

And with further input from Danny (Thanks again - I am in your  debt to Many Beers!) it's Take ....3.  And Danny also said that - there were 2...so ...yeah you get the picture

 

 

 

 

That officially marks the last piece of scratch building for this project - it's all just finishing now.

And without any available original pics - No-one can contest our interpretation

Thanks Danny

Rob

[Al Gunthwaite]

Brilliant stuff!

Al

[Courageous]

Excellent work, rework and rework again. 

 

Stuart

[longshanks]

Lovely bit of Gizmology that looks right !! Nailed it buddy

My one suggestion would be a gauge. As you say the wire is run from a fixed point and some means of measuring the distance would be required. Looking at your machine I'm thinking a small dial attached to the smaller wheel. Reason behind this is that the larger drum rotation rate would change as the wire unwound. The diameter between a full drum and half drum being different. Probably talking through my lower regions, just my thoughts. 

Having said that it looks grand as it is . . .

 

Kev

 

PS Don't forget the deck reinforcing plate

[robgizlu]

Thanks Al, Stuart and Kev.

 

Kev - they just don't show up very well

 

 

I thought about a deck plate.........How necessary do you think?  I know Lambert shows one but these would not have been that heavy ??

Rob

[JohnWS]

She's looking fantastic, Rob.

 

Looking at the deck plate drawing, one possibility came to mind - There's probably a lot of load & tension on the wire & gear when the wire is let out.  The deck plate would provide extra strength & support for the the gear.

 

2 hours ago, robgizlu said:

... And without any available original pics - No-one can contest our interpretation

Your secret is safe with me. 

 

John

[Courageous]

7 hours ago, JohnWS said:

Your secret is safe with me. 

No secrets on BM John. 

 

Stuart

[longshanks]

8 hours ago, robgizlu said:

hey just don't show up very well

 

I thought you well 

9 hours ago, robgizlu said:

I thought about a deck plate.........How necessary do you think?

 

John hit the nail on the head 

If you're thinking about matching deck colour. Your apparatus was probably a later edition, different colour or even still in factory finish. Were talking D Day anything to get the job done.

 

Keep up the great work, light is on at the end of the tunnel 

 

Kev

[Matt Parvis]

15 hours ago, robgizlu said:

 

And without any available original pics - No-one can contest our interpretation

 

You do know that having said that, you will come across an original picture, likely right after you finish? 

 

Matt

[beefy66]

Great stuff going on there Rob have to agree with John and Kev about the rear decking plate after all it’s in the drawing your showing soo you should add it to your build. 

 

beefy 

[robgizlu]

8 hours ago, Matt Parvis said:

You do know that having said that, you will come across an original picture, likely right after you finish? 

 

Matt

"If you build it - they (the pics) will come"  

 

And I think the pressure has become overwhelming for a Deck plate - (I hate cutting squares!!!)

Thanks Fellas

Rob

[longshanks]

54 minutes ago, robgizlu said:

(I hate cutting squares!!!)

 

Circles are harder . . . . . 😉

 

Kev

[robgizlu]

Such has been my sloth, that I've had to dig this out from page 3 of WIP.

Actually had nearly 5 hours of modelling today 

I plead the usual excuses................

 

And so when I got out the etch Hatchway covering frame in an idle moment,  I realised that the resin pieces are much too high  ( Fat drunk and Stupid)

 

 

Be warned (and note to self) they have been moulded overlarge  so as to cut down....

 

 

 

Now that looks much better

This pic also confirms the aft Gun safety rail has been attached and that the rear bandstand is painted and ready to be affixed.

I took some bases off Paul from Just Bases, whilst I deliberate as to whether this deserves a full perspex case.  It was time to mount the boat !

I'e used some pedestals from the web (not that many around are there) and used 5min epoxy to glue them within the hull

It all mounted effortlessly

 

 

I glazed the wheelhouse and added a windshield to the bridge.  The original pic of 196 shows one unequivocally in place

 

 

 

Pulleys were added to the spar

Stanchions and final gantry painting was completed - 

Ammunition lockers and tread boards glued down on coach deck

Rudders and props fitted

 

 

One of the plan diagrams in Lambert shows the CSA apparatus taking the place of 2 of the depth charge stations port side so I think that's what#s going to play out.

I made 2 "squares" (I hate making squares) for the The taut wire gear to sit on ( After all that raucous  ) and by a very happy coincidence the smaller fits the "bay" exactly, couldn't have planned it if I'd tried

 

 

The Splinter mats were painted Akan 507c Acrylic BTW and then washed with Mig Neutral grey to give them that dirty cloth look

And BTW this is how the Flota-nets turned out with a lick of paint and a dark wash

 

 

The props are painted using Mr Metal  Bronze and Brass which gives that nice semi-verdigris finish.

 

And finally with detailing in sight - I got to looking at flags.  i cant find any signalling Flags in 1/72 (I'd be pleased to be corrected) but did find these  White Ensigns which look very promising and come I believe from Canada - delivery within about 4/7!!

 

Duplicata Productions

 

 

And finally a BIG shout out to Name It and Thanks to Julie for her patience corresponding and for sending me 2 examples of their new photo printing process.  I'm used to their conventional Plates that are such good value but I was delighted with the photoplate, I'll be using the gold example.  Max size is 50 x50mm, expect more in the future

 

 

Now how kool is that?

Thanks for looking - hopefully I can get some momentum going

Rob

[longshanks]

No more teasing  

 

This is so close and is looking stunning (_{even the square})

 

 

Kev