| 11/17/05 - Details, details… the seats that came with the model had the support
bar molded in to it. I tried to CA glue one in place but a short time later I accidentally hit it and it
broke free. So I drilled .020 holes into the middle bar and inserted a brass rod as the support bar. Now the
CA glue has more to bite to. I also made the HF antenna mounts and secured them to the Wintergarden rails
with a brass rod. The flagpole is from the old 32nd Parallel model – it was a bit over size for the model
so I fastened it into my drill and filed it down. The swastika topper is from a scrap piece of brass secured
by solder. Weathering has started with a bit of black and brown oil paint thin down with turpentine.
Additional dry brushing with silver, black and white will be added. |
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| 11/28/05 - Have you ever had one of those days. I did. Last time I used
the CA de-bonder I guess there was a high pressure system in the area. When I unscrewed the cap - spurt -
several drops shot out of the plastic bottled as if it was under pressure. Well Murphy's Law in full force
and the drops ended up on the conning tower. After hosing down the tower the damage was revealed, one drop
landed on the wind deflector and the other two on the deck. A few chose words and a day later the mistake
corrected and the vents screens are installed. |
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Started weathering the model. I wanted a subtle washed and weathered look -
a bit of rust and a bit of dirt. The goal was to show wear and tear and try not to make it look like the
tower is all rusted. I used a combination of pastels chalks and oil paints to create the look. First a
coat of pastels chalks were applied. After that had setup a thin down coat of gloss was applied. Then a
wash of oils were wiped on. A mixture of black, browns, and greens oil paints were used for the dark
wash. A mixture of brown, crimson, and raw sienna was used for the rust. |
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Almost there.
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I cleaned out the lower hull. To remove the lead shot used as ballast I had to
take a hammer and chisel to the epoxy. Other areas were cleaned up using my Dremmel with the cable extension
and a 60 Grit sanding drum. Once I remove the previous build and got down to the original material I was able
to take the next step and try to figure out where all these brass parts go.
I placed the propeller
housing to the hull just under the real keel and found that the 32nd Parallel boat’s keel was smaller and the
brass housing wasn’t fitting correctly. With measurements I compared the 32nd Parallel’s keel to the plans I
had made in 1/32 scale. Sure enough, the keel was about ¼ inch too low and about 2 inches
too short. Along with
the damage and the pervious build it was simpler to make a new rear keel area. I built up the keel area with
Popsicle sticks the rapped it with masking tape. I sprayed the rear area with photo mount adhesive spray and
stuck clear plastic wrap to the hull. I then smeared some petroleum grease over the wrap and then laid down the
resin and fiberglass. The next day I had what I was looking for.
I then cut out the old keel and cleaned
up the area. Feathered down the hull area and the new keel. Set in two indexing pins and wiped down the area
with MEK. Mixed up a batch of West resin epoxy and glued the new keel in place. After that was dry I went back
and added some more cloth to the area and feathered the joint. A bit more sanding and it will be ready for some
holes. |
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| Although a very unorthodox way of making a copy, it was quite effective. |
| I didn’t like the way I made the prop shaft exits – I more or less copied 32nd
Parallel’s exits. So I chopped it all off, smoothed over the hull, but left the prop shaft brass tube exists
that I had meticulously place to guide the prop shaft. I then made a clay sculpture of what I wanted the exits
to look like – idea taken from the “zum Modell” book. I then glued them in place with a drop of CA glue. I
used the previous place brass tube to as a guide for the drill to align the exit hole. I then “broke” the
piece away and finished drilling out the hole. I enlarged the hole placed a brass tube that was .010 (.168
ID purchased from PSME) larger onto the prop shaft.
Aligned everything and CA glued and then epoxy everything in place. |
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| I took the rudder support and removed it’s pins drilled new holes and inserted
#4-40 screws then removed the heads. Took my laser level, made sure the table was level, and placed the rudder
making sure it was vertical. The brass supports for the rudder were fabricated from a brass eyelet inserted
into a brass tube then over brass rod. I secured the rudder support and solder the brass supports to the
rudder support using my micro torch. |
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| Here the brass support have just been solder to the rudder support.
The rear hydroplanes are secure from underneath using a #4-40 set screw. The propeller shaft bracket was
counter sunk, #4-40 nuts were epoxy inside and #4-40 flat head screws are used to secure it in place. This
makes the entire rear completely serviceable. Every item can be removed, adjusted/repaired and then
reassembled. I like it. |
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| The aft hydroplanes don’t line up with the propeller shaft bracket. The
propeller “dunce cap” gets in the way. I made a couple of e-mails to Jeff LaRue and Bob
Dimmack and the
easiest way to correct that problem is to trim the aft hydroplanes. Several
people have installed the planes further back and forgone any
modification. To me that just doesn't look right. The aft hydroplanes line
up with the prop supports. So me being stubborn, from the
first time I saw the propellers I thought the “dunce cap” was too pronounced. So I took the hard way and
filed off the dunce cap. |
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| The bow area was plainly drilled with holes to simulate the vents. I started to
open up the holes only to discover two things wrong. One was way too many air pockets in the bow section
fiberglass, and two, the previous construction material used did not allow for clean holes.
Each hole was very fuzzy. So I made a template
out of sheet styrene – cast up a mold – and made the new vents out of resin, CA and epoxy them in, then sanded
smooth. An idea from Bill Lambing helped with the hydroplane fairing. The insert tabs were a bit long so I
trimmed them down – drilled a hole – tapped it and inserted a #4-40 screw. The nut is soldered onto two washers. |
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| I used my Visio program to draw up a template of flood holes for the stern area.
Flipped horizontally, and now I have both left and right. I glued the template in place
with spray adhesive and drilled out the holes. This is a lot easier then
scribing each hole. If you use the right adhesive the template stays in
place even though drilling & filing. Ahhh... Much better. |
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| The hull had a lot of outward spring in it. So much that the upper hull fell
into the lower hull. To remove the spring and draw the lower hull inward a hole was dilled slightly larger
that a piece of threaded rod. A nut at one end and a wing nut at the other were inserted. As the wing nut
was tightened the hull drew inward. Afterwards Celluclay was mixed and placed inside the hull. This gave me
an exact template of the inner hull. The template was used to outline a ¼” thick piece of clear polycarbonate
to make the bulkhead. A series of notches were cut into the bulkhead, holes were drilled through the hull,
counter sunk, and brass screws then attached the hull to the bulkhead. Afterwards, resin epoxy was added to
complete the attachment. |
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| On the original 32nd Parallel hull the saddle tanks had individual
inlet valve. Unfortunately, some were installed upside down and crooked. I removed all of them, made a
casting of four grouped together on a raised panel. Duplicated them, and CA glued them to the hull. This
ensured a uniform look and fit. Because the hull is so solid, and only a small portion of flood holes exist,
I placed seven ½” holes at the very bottom of the keel to allow addition water flow. |
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| The front fairings of the prototype have a protection cable attach to them.
I CA glued a stainless steel cable that I purchased at PSME
to each fairing and made a loop in it retained by a small brass tube. The loop of the cable is held tight to
the hull via a brass hook fashioned from a fishing line bobber. Inside the hull is a styrene tube with the
black top and spring from the bob. Depress the button – the hook extends – and the cable hook is easily
attached or removed. Thus allowing for a complete dismantling of all hull pieces. |
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