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R25 class Räumboot - building finally


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5 hours ago, Steve D said:

Thanks Jochen, this vessel has so much deck detail to enjoy and build, I don't know why there are so few models out there.  It is indeed a neglected subject

xxx

 

Thanks for taking us "for a ride" (along on this journey).

 

Besides "not just another VIIc, flashy E-boat *, or another Bismarck" and showing one of the work horses of the Kriegsmarine we get to see woodworking, photoetch, soldering, machining, 3d print, ... and a nice balance between research on a subject and getting "a typical example" finished (and how not to get stuck in some particular rabit hole).

 

* : Thers is nothing wrong with E-boats! And VIIc etc. are OK too.

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Well, finally, all good things come to an end and this is the last build post on this thread.  The r-boat is done bar a little touch-up and the signature crewman for scale.

 

But first, the last bits of deck clutter.

 

The dan-buoy racks nearly had me admitting defeat (nearly...).  I should have etched them, of course I should, but I didn't and so they had to be made of brass.  This is particularly tough as any heat had one loop added and two falling off...:suicide:

 

They were made from wire, 0.8mm for the main loop, beaten flat and framed with 0.6mm wire, the loops were made from 0.5mm wire.  The wood frame in the foreground is the size and shape template

 

DSCN2920

 

They then needed a back-stay from 0.7 mm wire, not wonderfully clear in this shot

 

DSCN2921

 

They were so frustrating I waited a full two weeks before making the second pair.  Normally the second one of anything is easier, normally....

 

Here they are in place with the poles added

 

DSCN2957

 

Once that was behind me, I was able to move on to the loop aerial, from ez line, *thick.  This shot hopefully shows the layout

 

DSCN2958

 

Next came over 25 feet of rope on my old ropewalk.  This time I used a dark-brown cotton and have dry-brushed it a mix of beige brown and deck tan after setting with weak PVA to highlight the twisted threads.

 

The ropewalk is hard to photograph, I set it up on the woodwork bench which gives me ~ 6 feet per run.  I made this thing over 20 years ago, with a brass gearbox and the moving end and cable guide from a couple of toy trucks I found somewhere, no expense spared,,,  It's tedious as it's manual but strangely satisfying.  The rope for this vessel was 6 strand cotton, makes up about 0.4 mm dia.  Zoom the image to get the detail.  The white plastic bits were 3d printed on my old printer

 

IMG_0324

 

Close-up of the cable guide doing its job and making rope..  With stronger thread, this should just happen when the rope is ready to be made, with this very thin cotton, it needed a little encouragement

 

IMG_0325

 

Once complete, it needs stretching and evening out as it will tend to kink if you're not careful.  It looks great under the magnifying glass, will anyone appreciate it, I doubt it

 

Here are two of the 4 mooring lines, double zoom to see the lay of the rope

 

DSCN2961

 

More on ropes, the sweep gear is tied in place with a grey linen thread, obviously the loose end has to be coiled, hence my little rope coil tool

 

DSCN2960

 

Released and soaked in weak pva, they lay-down nicely

 

These vessels had 5 m long ladders on each side.  They seemed to be to help crew get in and out of the boats.  They are quite wide, unusually so, I guess to help the crew not falling in.

 

They are made of wood, 1 mm lime dowel where my new toy (birthday present) came in useful, its a dowel/tube cutter to cut 46 lengths exactly identical.  Don't know if its really necessary, but it did make that job a little quicker.  Beautifully made, watchmakers tool I think

 

DSCN2963

 

I had a spare nickel silver etching with the rung spacing on it which helped a lot on drilling the rung holes, all 4 stretchers at once

 

DSCN2962

 

A simple jig helped assembly

 

DSCN2964

 

After clean-up and sanding to shape

 

DSCN2965

 

And after painting, and weathering.  Of course, starting with wood means sanding back gives the perfect worn finish

 

DSCN2966

 

Boat hooks are normally the last items I make, these ones have 1 mm dia walnut shafts

 

DSCN2967

 

And so, here we are, the end of the build.  These boat fenders can be seen on a number of pictures.  Early in the war they were rope, but later they look like sheet metal floats, still the damage to the rubbing strips shows they were not always deployed..

 

DSCN2968

 

DSCN2969

 

Note the forward boat hook, suspended from the wire rail

 

And the midships boat hook, starboard ladder in place and better picture of the loop aerial

 

DSCN2970

 

And the stern with the sweep gear all stowed

 

DSCN2971

 

The case and brass name plate have arrived so I have the oak base to cut and the pillars to turn and it will be ready to display.  It will be back shortly with better photography in an RFI thread with the introduction to my next build, a diorama

 

Thanks for all the help, comments and likes.  I hope you found it interesting and gained some knowledge.  There are no large models of this type that I could find in the 11 months of this project, so this thread fills a gap in the record, I seem to have uploaded nearly 300 pictures, hopefully a good source for others to follow.

 

Cheers

 

Steve

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Steve, you've made another beautiful ship!

You can look at it inch by inch and enjoy every detail. Plus, your building is an online school for modeling from scratch from various materials.

Thanks!

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15 hours ago, Dmitriy1967 said:

modeling from scratch from various materials.

Many comments refer to my using different materials, I just use what seems logical for the job :hmmm:and try not to limit my thinking to plastic which I hate because I'm so rubbish at using it.... Thanks for your continued interest and comments Dmitriy, they are very much appreciated

 

15 hours ago, psdavidson said:

Astounding

Thanks Peter, what is truly astounding is that assembling a pile of bits and components, all of which can be made better, somehow creates a whole that looks OK.  Over 20 years now and 15 completed builds, I'm never happy and still learning

 

14 hours ago, theskits62 said:

I guess you can continue with the Jason now

At the end of last year, I had some guys line out and floor a section of the loft space that was lost to the world.  In it sits Jason so at least its unpacked now, that's a start....

 

12 hours ago, Courageous said:

Just gotta wait for your next build which is....

a secret, for now.  But I promise something different and a real challenge for my metal working.  Thanks Stuart, I love your projects so I'm really glad you found some interest in my ramblings

 

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Amazing build there Steve a very busy looking boat will keep this in mind for any further builds I have to use as reference.  :worthy:

 

Stay Safe

beefy

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7 hours ago, Jochen Barett said:

YESS! Thanks for taking us along!

No, thank you Jochen for your help, my knowledge of the Kriegsmarine was more or less non-existent, less so now

 

59 minutes ago, beefy66 said:

a very busy looking boat

Thanks Beefy, one of the reasons I love this project is the deck equipment.  Check out the war-time images and the boats were loaded with stuff, mine is actually quite clean by comparison.  The sweep gear in particular were really fun to research and make 

 

Cheers

 

Steve

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4 hours ago, robgizlu said:

the ladders are Tour de Force

Thanks Rob, as you will know, very few things I make please me, but I also love those ladders.  It was a shame to paint and weather them.  I had three attempts at rope fenders, none of which were good enough.  Luckily, these cylinder style fenders are also shown on some photographs so I was saved :phew:

 

2 hours ago, JohnWS said:

Its the not the Destination, It's the journey

Thanks John, I could not agree more.  I don't know about you, but while I'm never quite happy as I build, give it a year or so and when I look at it again, I often wonder how on earth I made it.  Like a good Burgundy (and I do like a good Burgundy :drunk:), the models somehow seem to get better with age, isn't that strange :hmmm:

 

Cheers

 

Steve

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A unique ship. Interesting types of boards in the video. With the new modern superstructure that flashed in the video, he looked very formidable!

I would like to wish that there are people who will preserve and restore this rarity.

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The numbering of these R-boats is very confusing.  R-146 featured in the video, is an R25 class design but part of the batch R130 - 150 built in 1943 at 150 tonnes and 41m long whereas R-155 (also an R-25 type) which I have modelled was built in 1940 was 126 t and 35m long.  The later boats were all built with the armoured porthole style bridge you see in the video and some of the earlier boats were later upgraded with the same bridge design but not, I think, R-155. 

 

The numbering is all over the place, they left gaps, possibly to confuse the enemy, certainly to confuse modellers....:mental:

 

Steve

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  • 6 months later...
11 hours ago, Jochen Barett said:

I'm not sure about this one

Jochen,

 

That's a late war R-boote after the armoured bridge conversion, similar to this rare colour image (this is actually a great picture for showing actual colours)

 

r-boot later type 1a

 

Looking at your picture which is new to me, it may be post-war in Demark as the Danes took over a lot of R boote for minesweeping operations after the war.

 

If anyone is interested, I amassed over 200 r-boote images during the build including a lot of deck equipment shots taken during construction, but only a small number were posted to this thread.  I'm always happy to help and thanks @Jochen Barett for adding to the thread.  The one with the flotilla markings is extra special, I didn't have that shot :thumbsup:

 

Cheers

 

Steve

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