Thanks Brian, I am glad you like it.Steve, this is an exceptionally well done model and build log.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Working Steam powered wooden Drifter trawler, Formidable LT100, 1:24th scale
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Cheers,
Stephen.
Part 8.
Planks are made of Huon pine, rubbing strakes being thicker than the normal planks, all to a scale thickness. This wood has a unique aroma, I my opinion quite a pleasant smell it seems to permeate the workshop when sawing/sanding.
Planks were made in pairs being temporarily glued together using a Glue stick. First the planking material would have a straight and square face planned on using a jack plane, then the width marks would be marked at each frame along with the overall length.
Next rough cut on a scroll saw finishing to the line with rasp and sand paper making sure the edge remained square, in the end it became a process and I got faster and better as I progressed.
I would go out to my workshop on a week night after dinner for an hour or so and from memory I could make steam then fix two pair of planks in a week. I planked from the keel and deck edge meeting in the middle
Planks were made and attached in pairs, when needed they were steamed, waiting a few days after steaming then glued, drilled and having bamboo tree nails knocked in. The tree nails are a lot bigger than scale mainly to improve strength and seeing that the hull will be painted you probably wont see them.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Planks are made of Huon pine, rubbing strakes being thicker than the normal planks, all to a scale thickness. This wood has a unique aroma, I my opinion quite a pleasant smell it seems to permeate the workshop when sawing/sanding.
Planks were made in pairs being temporarily glued together using a Glue stick. First the planking material would have a straight and square face planned on using a jack plane, then the width marks would be marked at each frame along with the overall length.
Next rough cut on a scroll saw finishing to the line with rasp and sand paper making sure the edge remained square, in the end it became a process and I got faster and better as I progressed.
I would go out to my workshop on a week night after dinner for an hour or so and from memory I could make steam then fix two pair of planks in a week. I planked from the keel and deck edge meeting in the middle
Planks were made and attached in pairs, when needed they were steamed, waiting a few days after steaming then glued, drilled and having bamboo tree nails knocked in. The tree nails are a lot bigger than scale mainly to improve strength and seeing that the hull will be painted you probably wont see them.
Cheers,
Stephen.
I think more Australian modellers should use Huon pine. Its a superb timber for model ship building.
I agree Brian, also enjoyable to work with as long as you don't try to bend it too far unless it has been steamed, or hasn't been kiln dried.
Your care for precision and patience are showing and will pay off in the final results. Well done! PT-2
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Dear Stephen
This is a very creative invention, well done
Hi shota70,
Thanks for that.
My "creative invention" as you put it nearly drove me around the bend with the amount of time I spent doing it, though now I am glad I made the effort, as they say no gain without pain!!
Cheers,
Stephen.
Part 9.
Some more planking photos….. I hope you enjoy them.
When it came to fitting the rubbing and bilge strakes I tapered the respective planks which are thicker than the rest of the planking material, before fitting them I felt that I would make a mess of it if I tried tapering them once fitted.
Planking around the stern I found to be the trickiest especially around the prop shaft. In one of those regrettable moments of “she will be right” and take the easy rout I will just make up a couple of wedge shaped planks to fill a hole, instead of making a proper “stealer”. Later on I did go to the trouble of making a better “stealer” this can be seen in a couple of the photos.
When I got to the last plank ( quite a mile stone event ) I was very happy and relived that there were no large adjustments to be made. I doubt anyone would be able to find it without referring to a photo first.
Somewhere in the 2 or 3 years that planking took me to do, I showed the model at a few shows.
One show in particular at Queenscliff maritime museum in Victoria Australia. I ran into a guy Les Lauder he had built 2 engines to the same design as I did, he told me that one of them ran beautifully without problems while the other had similar problems to mine.
He told me that he had fixed this problem by using a floating frame to push the cylinders onto the valve face. He very kindly sent me some photos of his modified engine.
This mention of steam engine problems and other steam related issues will be covered in the future.
Updates will slow considerably now that the pre-written stuff is depleted, also I work full time. There is still quite a bit to catch up to the latest work.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Some more planking photos….. I hope you enjoy them.
When it came to fitting the rubbing and bilge strakes I tapered the respective planks which are thicker than the rest of the planking material, before fitting them I felt that I would make a mess of it if I tried tapering them once fitted.
Planking around the stern I found to be the trickiest especially around the prop shaft. In one of those regrettable moments of “she will be right” and take the easy rout I will just make up a couple of wedge shaped planks to fill a hole, instead of making a proper “stealer”. Later on I did go to the trouble of making a better “stealer” this can be seen in a couple of the photos.
When I got to the last plank ( quite a mile stone event ) I was very happy and relived that there were no large adjustments to be made. I doubt anyone would be able to find it without referring to a photo first.
Somewhere in the 2 or 3 years that planking took me to do, I showed the model at a few shows.
One show in particular at Queenscliff maritime museum in Victoria Australia. I ran into a guy Les Lauder he had built 2 engines to the same design as I did, he told me that one of them ran beautifully without problems while the other had similar problems to mine.
He told me that he had fixed this problem by using a floating frame to push the cylinders onto the valve face. He very kindly sent me some photos of his modified engine.
This mention of steam engine problems and other steam related issues will be covered in the future.
Updates will slow considerably now that the pre-written stuff is depleted, also I work full time. There is still quite a bit to catch up to the latest work.
Cheers,
Stephen.
WOW
Just "found" your new building log
This is a great project and a very good and informative building log - I am looking forward to see much more of your work on this model
BTW: Your "steamer" is great - wonderful idea
BTW2: Can you show us a photo or sketch / drawing, so we see how the ship will look like?
I found a kit including a GFK-hull, which is in the meantime available
www.steamengines.co.uk
Just "found" your new building log
This is a great project and a very good and informative building log - I am looking forward to see much more of your work on this model
BTW: Your "steamer" is great - wonderful idea
BTW2: Can you show us a photo or sketch / drawing, so we see how the ship will look like?
I found a kit including a GFK-hull, which is in the meantime available
Formidable LT100 GRP Boat Kit
A model boat kit of the North Sea Drifter with a GRP hull, precision cut wood work and detailed assembly instructions. See more...
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Hi Uwe,
Thanks.
Spot on that is what she will look like, that is a high end price kit.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Thanks.
Spot on that is what she will look like, that is a high end price kit.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Hi Uwe,
This is a small section of a brief introduction that I use when displaying my model.
Formidable, LT 100, a wooden steam drifter trawler built in 1917 by Chambers Ltd at their no.3 yard, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk, England.
Approximately 88 feet in length, 19 feet beam with a depth of 9 feet 9 inches, 40 tons net, carrying capacity of 52 tons, fitted with a two-fired Riley boiler, and a Crabtree compound steam engine of 33hp she could run economically at a speed of 9 knots.
The model is being built to 1/24th scale and is scratch built from plans drawn by John Pottinger; she is 1.2m long, powered by a steam engine and radio controlled.
Cheers,
Stephen.
This is a small section of a brief introduction that I use when displaying my model.
Formidable, LT 100, a wooden steam drifter trawler built in 1917 by Chambers Ltd at their no.3 yard, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Suffolk, England.
Approximately 88 feet in length, 19 feet beam with a depth of 9 feet 9 inches, 40 tons net, carrying capacity of 52 tons, fitted with a two-fired Riley boiler, and a Crabtree compound steam engine of 33hp she could run economically at a speed of 9 knots.
The model is being built to 1/24th scale and is scratch built from plans drawn by John Pottinger; she is 1.2m long, powered by a steam engine and radio controlled.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Part 10.
After planking had been finished came removal from the building board then removing all the former's from inside the hull, and at last time to separate the upper and lower parts of the hull (that’s if I hadn’t accidentally glued them together).
I used small wedges to force the parts apart and to my relief after some initial reluctance to move with a pop the two parts started to separate.
I continued carefully prising the two parts apart taking my time to ensure I didn’t damage anything.
I would have to say that I was very happy with my effort so far, I quite like the lines on this hull.
I used a rasp and sandpaper on a stick to carefully trim down to the sheer line.
I put the hull back on the building board temporally using a couple of former's to hold it in position this was so I could make and fit the “sand band”.
The sand band on the real thing was a “D” section made of mild steel. After looking around I couldn’t find any brass “D” section the right size so I decided to make my own from brass strip shaped into a “D” section.
After contemplating how I could do this I came up with attaching the strip to a flat board with double sided tape.
Then using a file and sand paper producing the required shape.
After bending to shape the sand band was glued with Titebond 3 and pinned using brass pins.
I did some experiments gluing brass to wood using Titebond 3 with great results it adhered very well, I scratched up the brass before gluing with coarse sand paper, then chemically cleaned using thinner or isopropyl alcohol to remove any contaminates.
Cheers,
Stephen.
After planking had been finished came removal from the building board then removing all the former's from inside the hull, and at last time to separate the upper and lower parts of the hull (that’s if I hadn’t accidentally glued them together).
I used small wedges to force the parts apart and to my relief after some initial reluctance to move with a pop the two parts started to separate.
I continued carefully prising the two parts apart taking my time to ensure I didn’t damage anything.
I would have to say that I was very happy with my effort so far, I quite like the lines on this hull.
I used a rasp and sandpaper on a stick to carefully trim down to the sheer line.
I put the hull back on the building board temporally using a couple of former's to hold it in position this was so I could make and fit the “sand band”.
The sand band on the real thing was a “D” section made of mild steel. After looking around I couldn’t find any brass “D” section the right size so I decided to make my own from brass strip shaped into a “D” section.
After contemplating how I could do this I came up with attaching the strip to a flat board with double sided tape.
Then using a file and sand paper producing the required shape.
After bending to shape the sand band was glued with Titebond 3 and pinned using brass pins.
I did some experiments gluing brass to wood using Titebond 3 with great results it adhered very well, I scratched up the brass before gluing with coarse sand paper, then chemically cleaned using thinner or isopropyl alcohol to remove any contaminates.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Beautiful work indeed Stephen. I really like your way to use the laminated bulkheads! I am going to steal this idea for my next build.
And your way to separate hull in two is a splendid one, giving full access to the lower part of hull for installing engine & other components. Another great idea for copying.
I will follow your build with great interest into the very end, we will see what other exceptional ideas there will still be uncovered.
And your way to separate hull in two is a splendid one, giving full access to the lower part of hull for installing engine & other components. Another great idea for copying.
I will follow your build with great interest into the very end, we will see what other exceptional ideas there will still be uncovered.
Hi Moxis,
Thanks for your comments, I appreciate them. They say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
If you do go down the laminated frame path I would recommend using a good quality thin ply wood.
I would not recommend the removable section if going for the bent frame method the amount of work is ridiculous.
For me the removable section was an after thought, it would have been better to have used cut frame I think. Then you could plan the removable section from the start.
I hope you enjoy the build and I don't disappoint you in future posts.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Thanks for your comments, I appreciate them. They say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
If you do go down the laminated frame path I would recommend using a good quality thin ply wood.
I would not recommend the removable section if going for the bent frame method the amount of work is ridiculous.
For me the removable section was an after thought, it would have been better to have used cut frame I think. Then you could plan the removable section from the start.
I hope you enjoy the build and I don't disappoint you in future posts.
Cheers,
Stephen.
Stephen,
Have just found this thread! Beautiful work!
The steam trawlers have always had a great attraction for me, and I always intended to build one, but sadly I am now a SABLE and will probably never get round to it. Your construction techniques are excellent, and remind me so much of my build of 'Natterer' - except I took 33 years on her, rather than 20!
I agree that Ted Frost's book is superb.
Regards
Ted
Have just found this thread! Beautiful work!
The steam trawlers have always had a great attraction for me, and I always intended to build one, but sadly I am now a SABLE and will probably never get round to it. Your construction techniques are excellent, and remind me so much of my build of 'Natterer' - except I took 33 years on her, rather than 20!
I agree that Ted Frost's book is superb.
Regards
Ted
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Dear Stephen
as always, you are doing excellent job, it's looks beautiful
G'day Stephen, what a beautiful model you are building, just when I had decided not to build anymore 20th century type ships, you go and post this fantastic build, would you believe that I had got rid of any plans for them except this one, I had tossed and turned whether to give the plan away but in the end I kept it.
I will have to go back and read all through your log, I expect it will be a very enjoyable read,
best regards John.
I will have to go back and read all through your log, I expect it will be a very enjoyable read,
best regards John.
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Hi Ted,
Thank you very much, I was hoping that you might find my build.
I am in awe of your work and there are some parallels with your magnificent "Natterer", though I am hopeful that completion of my model will be less than 33 years.
I don't know where I would be without Ted Frosts book it is indispensable.
Cheers,
Stephen.