Scottish Fishery Protection Vessel "Jura"

[Murdo]

Soooooo... It's been a while since I posted any builds mainly because I seem to have hit a brick wall called "finishing a model". The shelf of shame is really getting very shameful.     😟

 

And so begins a woeful tale of buffoonery.

 

About a month ago I was at a friend's house and whilst chatting to another old friend of theirs he mentioned that he used to work on the Scottish Fishery Protection Agency ships. I mentioned seeing these ships often in Stornoway Harbour, particularly the "Westra", "Jura" and "Minna".  

 

We got on really well and to cut all the drivel out of a long story I later casually asked if he had any ship's plans of any of them. He said he did and would I like to see them?  About a week later he handed me a thick blue book and sho' nuff, in the back was the plans to the Jura. I got permission to copy them but by now his curiosity was piqued and he asked why I wanted them.

 

Not seeing the huge hole right in front of my two left feet I explained that when the company wasn't running my backside into the ground with work I played Flight Sim (X-Plane 11) and built scale models. I would try and scale the plans down and try to build a scale model of the Jura. Having seen some of the excellent builds on here I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Nowt wrong with that, but this where the two left feet and the big hole came into it... In a sheer attack of Muppetry, Kermit here opened his daft gob and said, "Would you like one too?" His face lit up and he said "I would absolutely love one!"  I didn't panic too much then but when I got home and opened them out the plans were A0 size so about 5' x 4'. "Oh", I thought "This could be fun getting to the right scale".

 

I tried photographing the plans but they were very faint. I had another mate who had a mate who managed to get the plans scanned on to PDF format. "Yaaaay!" I thought, "This might actually work". They were almost as faint as the photos and whilst they were a bit straighter than my photo efforts they still had a slight skew to them so it took a bit of time and photo editing to get them straight.

 

As I only have an A4 printer I used Windows Snip tool to cut the scans into bite size chunks and paste them into Word so I could print them of to stick to whatever medium I decided to build the model in. 

 

I have scratchbuilt a few items in the past as per below:

 

1/35 Bristol Bloodhound

 

 

1/35 "Whippet with guts". Emhar Whippet with scratchbuilt engine and interior)

 

 

1/144 Whaler my Dad worked on back in the 1950s.  I built this for him and used the hull from the Revell North Sea Trawler and the boats from 144 HMS Discovery (I think), all the rest was scratchbuilt:

 

 

And a wee 1/350 scale WW2 HMT minehunter:

 

 

And this is what the "Jura" looked like:

 

 

Sorry, it's been so long since I last posted pics I'm having trouble remembering how to get them to the right size.

 

I'm not too worried about scratchbuilding the Jura (although I have serious Muppet issues measuring anything, or cutting anything straight and circles become squares) BUT... It will be for someone that knows the ship intimately and will spot any mistakes instantly.

 

And now, enough waffle - let the "fun" begin...

 

 

[beefy66]

Right then I ,m waiting. 

 

beefy 

[Roger Newsome]

Having served on Jura's RN counterparts, Orkney, Anglesey and Shetland I'm in.

Roger. 

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

I think the SFPA ships were essentially identical to the RN Islands, but minus the gun.  Having driven a Fish Squadron ship (though not an Island), my attention is definitely grabbed.

[Jonners]

Excellent (if slightly mad) project! Go for it.  Nice previous work too; I particularly like the minehunter.

Jon

[stevehnz]

I can normally be found hanging around ship builds, I guess growing up near a modest sized port with a fair variety of vessels in & out I've grown to like them a bit. I do like your whaler, its a topic that has long fascinated me, though I'm sure I oughtn't admit to that these days. To my eye, the Jura is a slightly odd looking vessel, like the Dutch coasters the local line ran but with the holds chopped out of the middle.

Steve.

[longshanks]

Some nice scratch building work above, the bar has been set.  😉

 

What scale are you thinking and have you decided how you're going to build the hull?

 

Kev

[Murdo]

Man! The internet here is really slooooooowww....

 

Thanks guys and yep, I do think I'm slightly mad in attempting this but I really fancy giving it a go. Modelling time will be the killer

 

12 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

I think the SFPA ships were essentially identical to the RN Islands, but minus the gun.  Having driven a Fish Squadron ship (though not an Island), my attention is definitely grabbed.

From what David (the Captain on these SFPV ships) told me: The RN was looking for a new type of Patrol Boat and some bright spark suggested looking at the SPVA "Island Class" as they'd been around for a while and were sea worthy proven vessels so two of them were seconded to the RN and the Island Class Patrol Boats were born. 

 

3 hours ago, longshanks said:

Some nice scratch building work above, the bar has been set.  😉

 

What scale are you thinking and have you decided how you're going to build the hull?

 

Kev

 

I think if I just built something small in 1:350, David might be a bit disappointed so I'm thinking of a 1:144 waterline model on a seascape. That should be big enough.

 

Plus if needs be I can then maybe steal some parts from the Revell Flower Class Corvette but I'd rather try and scratchbuild everything.

 

Plan 1: I was thinking to "borrow" your build technique on the TID Steam Tug and either build the skeleton (as below) with strips of Plasticard glued to a base hull shape and fill in with Isopon P38, adding  "bulkheads" about 3 to 4mm in for the P38 to stick to. 

 

Plan 2: Build skeleton as above but instead of using P38, try and build the entire hull from Plasticard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main problem right now is getting the very faint plans in a visible printed format but I've been at that for a week or so and might have a way ahead.

 

Basically... Use Windows Snip tool to copy the electronic drawings from Aft Perpendicular to Mid Ship (Ooooh! Get him!) then Mid Ship to Front Perpendicular then add the rest of the plan parts i.e. Stern overhang behind AP and Bow forward of FP to the Word document for printing, cut out the shapes then start gluing to plastic for shaping...

 

The red mark on the first drawing is the AP.

 

 

It's a bit difficult to explain as I'm still wondering how I'm going to get workable plans but I'll take a photo to show what I've done so far.

 

There's not really a lot I can do where I currently am until I get back home to my stuff in about a week.

 

 

[Courageous]

Looks very interesting, I'll tag along.

I really like the Minehunter too.

 

Stuart

[Murdo]

I'll try and find more pics of the HM Trawler build and post a build if I can. Using Imgur these days (and I hate it) after the Photobucket mess which is why I rarely post pics.

 

Her Majesty's Trawlers. Incredible little ships and their story is incredible too!            

[Murdo]

Sorry, as it was WW2 it should be His Majesty's Trawler.

[robgizlu]

Great project - really looking forwards to seeing this.  

Some lovely scratch built models to date, I especially like the 1/350 minehunter

Consider seat well and truly drawn up!

Rob

[Murdo]

As some of you will know from another post I didn't want to hijack, I'm currently about 300 miles and 11 hours from home looking after my 84 year old parents (they get quite seriously hacked off if I call them "elderly") one of whom has suffered a serious Stroke and finally got out of hospital two weeks ago (Mum). So I'm up here trying to work and look after them.

 

Anyhoos... Took the stuff I'd hurriedly printed off at home last week out of the car boot tonight and tried to get some pics of it. The deck plan is about 5mm short of the Profile deck point and that's before deck curvature is even added so... Back to the thinking and planning board. Bit annoyed but it will be to do with the size of the pics or I've snipped off in the slightly wrong place. No printer here so I'm a bit stuck for now.

 

 

Sorry guys, perhaps these will help with patience for now. Here's the link to the HMT build:

 

 

Steve, here's the link to the Whaling ship build:

 

 

 

[Murdo]

More Muppetness. That measuring thingy starts at the wrong point and the deck curvature will reduce the deck plan length. Possibly not as much as 5mm but         

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Hang in there and take your time; many of us are at the elderly experienced parents stage, and it’s way more important than any model.  

 

We’re all familiar with ‘measure 3 times, cut once’... but this is a stage further; in my experience time spent getting plans exactly right pays off hugely in the end, because before you touch a single piece of brass, resin, balsa, styrene or whatever, you are already really familiar with the subject.

 

 

[stevehnz]

On 7/16/2019 at 11:50 AM, Murdo said:

Steve, here's the link to the Whaling ship build:

Shows you how good my memory is, 8 years ago I responded in much the same vein as I have above. At least I'm consistent.   I knew there was a reason I wanted a Revell trawler.  

Steve.

[Courageous]

13 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

We’re all familiar with ‘measure 3 times, cut once’... but this is a stage further; in my experience time spent getting plans exactly right pays off hugely in the end, because before you touch a single piece of brass, resin, balsa, styrene or whatever, you are already really familiar with the subject.

Aahh, now I know where I'm going wrong...

 

Stuart

[Murdo]

Can't believe it's almost a month since I began this post.

 

Work has been murder since I got back and every weekend SWMBO had loads of "Honey do's" waiting. The little modellingI've been getting done has been during conf calls whilst somebody was droning on about something tedious.

 

I've also been trying to buld this wee thing in 1:350 for a couple of months:

 

 

 

Currently at this Blue-Tacked stage:

 

 

 

Anyway, on to Jura progress...

 

Told Her Maj that this weekend I wasn't doing anything but modelling so...

 

Having spent some time trying to decipher the plans and not really getting anywhere in 1:144 I decided to try a test build in 1:350:

 

 

Got a kind of skeleton built to work from:

 

 

Fitted the deck and plastered it in Isonpon P36, she's looking a bit rough and gnarly at this point:

 

 

Then the wet sanding started, lots of sanding...

 

 

Sanded down till the "ribs" started to show:

 

 

Then started gently contour sanding the very graceful and lovely bow line these ships had. Spent an hour or two gently moulding her buttock lines to the right shape (fnar fnar).  I hope the shape shows up correctly:

 

 

 

 

I think I might sand the bow down a little more but decided to stop for tonight in case I mucked it up. 

 

Also discovered the Mid Deck measurements are 1mm too wide each side so I might have to sand the sides down a little bit. It probably wouldn't be noticeable in 1:144 but I think it will be in 1:350, her hull slope at MLD isn't sheer enough.             

Edited August 10, 2019 by Murdo

[Bandsaw Steve]

Very nice!

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday Murdo, I'm interested in how you've scratchbuilt the hull, as it is the main part of a vessel (obviously) and important to get it right, I think. Up to now I've used kit hulls and built up from there. One day I'd like to do my own hulls also, so my model would be truly scratchbuilt and not a hybrid. So thank you for showing how you did it.

 

And BTW, it is important, as you say, to get the buttock lines the right shape. (SOMEONE had to say it !!!) 😁

Regards, Jeff.

[longshanks]

A good start on both . . . .

 

Kev

[beefy66]

Cracking stuff nice shaping of the hull  

 

beefy

[MikeR]

Coming along nicely!

 

Mike.

[Bugle07]

Really good building, great stuff!

 

Geoff

[Murdo]

Thanks guys, your kind comments and encouragement are much appreciated!

 

As I've proven to myself time and time again, no matter how many times I measure it, then check and triple check, I'll generally manage to cut it incorrectly.           

 

So, an update.

 

Marked out the strips needing removed from each side then back to sanding.

 

 

Sand sand - check! Sand sand - check! Sand sand - Check! You get the drift. Tedious but absolutely needed with someone so cack-handed with things.

 

Fairly happy with this:

 

 

Not happy with her stern area though. The shape isn't quite correct and I think it will need a bit of work to get it right.

 

You can see the wrong shape against the paper template sticking out from the sides below:

 

 

 

 

 

The cunning plan is to make a new bit of deck from plasticard then cut and try to remove the deck from the rear of the superstructure to the stern. It might be fun with all that P38 holding it in place.

 

If that doesn't work then I'll probably have to make a new hull.