Great Lakes Freighter.

[785boats]

I've now glued on the sides & added the vertical strips around the stern.
In the kit it shows the vertical strips being attached in a straight line between the deck & the keel.
That doesn't look right. So I added a stringer & a ply former midway between the deck & keel section to give the whole stern area some curve to it, as per the full size ships. It's probably not exact but it looks more pleasing to my eye.
The pics will explain it a bit better.
Cheers.

The extra former between the deck & keel.
IMAG0137.jpg

The side skins added & the vertical strips begun.
IMAG0139.jpg

Here you can see the curve of the strips in relation to the straight line of the bulkhead below them.
IMAG0141.jpg

The vertical planking completed.
IMAG0144.jpg

Side view.
IMAG0145.jpg

[785boats]

I added the bow thruster tubes and the front panels last night.
I drilled the portholes into the panels first. I thought it would be easier that way.
The tubes for the bow thrusters are just a piece of 13mm plastic tube with a 90 degree bend up in the bow to exit out through the hull.

Tubes pass through bulkhead from the bow to the main hull area where the thruster units will be fitted.
IMAG0147.jpg

Front panels added. The thruster outlets just needs to be sealed & trimmed flush with the hull.
I also painted the main deck hatch with red oxide to see what the colour looks like. It might be a bit too brownish.
IMAG0146.jpg

[785boats]

Lathered on some 'butter' to fill all the gaps & imperfections. Now for the sanding .

I've never used this product before so I thought I'd give it a try. Has anyone else used it before?

Agnew's Water Putty.

https://www.google.com.au/shopping/p...E,gclsrc:aw.ds

It's a powder that's mixed with water. It can be mixed to a self levelling slurry, a medium filler or a thick putty type filler.

IMAG0148.jpg

[Stillwet]

Rock Hard putty or MH Ready patch is all i use when needed but for home repairs, for my RC boats,West Systems, Z Epoxy with Micro Balloons and JB Weld, Gorilla adhesive, & RTV Black silicone gasket maker.
you have been very busy.
i have a bunch of N & Z Scale containers, i need to find a freighter of those scales.
keep up the great work.
it looks grand.

[785boats]

Thanks man.
Speaking of Gorilla adhesives. This whole boat is held together at every joint with Gorilla CA glue. I'm impressed with it.
I usually use Bob Smith Industries CA Glue for all my wooden Boats. Even my racing 1/8th scale Hydroplanes that are hitting 70mph. But I ran out, & Hobbyking,who sells it here in Australia, had none in stock.
I'll have to try some of their other task specific adhesives too.
And yes, JB Weld for high stress joints like engine mounts & driveline stuffing tubes etc.
Cheers.
Paul.

[785boats]

I'ts been a long time since I visited this thread.
We've been crazy at work over the last few months. Lots of changing from dayshift & night shift, & afternoon shift, Saturdays & Sundays, & with lots of overtime.
good for the bank balance, but it just leaves me wasted.

Finally had a day off yesterday where I felt like actually working on a boat.

So I soldered on all the connectors for the motor, main ESC, & the small ESC for the bow thruster.

Finished installing the bow thruster too.
I Made up a motor mount from some 3mm angleand epoxied that into the hull.
I used a solid hex flex connector onto the shaft to keep the motor lined up with the prop shaft as the epoxy set.

Then I installed the rudder, servo, and linkage.

Time to get into the painting now.

Cheers.

That basically deals with all the electrical & mechanical setup for the model.

The bowthruster pump setup.
P1010023 (1).jpg

A 775 brushed motor with it's ESC, and a 10A reversing ESC for the bowthruster. Also the motor mount.
P1010024 (1).jpg

Motor & mount installed with the hex flex coupler. Runs smooth & quiet.
P1010026 (1).jpg

Rudder & 4 blade prop.
The prop will need sharpening becasuse each blade presents about a 1/4 mm flat surface on the leading edge. Even though it will only spinning at around 5000 revs, a good sharpenning can't hurt.
P1010025 (1).jpg

Cheers.

[fweasel]

I need a boat with bow thrusters in my life. That's not how I would have expected the internals of that particular feature to look. Pretty cool.

[785boats]

Yes. Usually the pump goes between the two outlets in the bow of the boat.
But the bow is sealed off & inaccessible so I mounted the pump in the main area with the pipes heading forward through the bulkhead & then out through the sides of the hull.
Post #17 has a couple of pics that show it a bit more clearly.
Cheers.

[Stillwet]

Heavy Duty.
keep at it, i'll be back with popcorn

[785boats]

FINALLY !!
I've just managed to glue the last few fittings in place & finish off the paintwork this afternoon.
Over the last few weeks I've managed to steal some time from the 'time bank' & get the bulk of the painting done, and assemble all the different bits'n pieces to make it look like a ship.

Here's a synopsis of what has happened.

All the filling and sanding was completed & the hull, decks & all superstructures were given a coat of primer.
The decks were painted in a soft matt grey.
The superstructures were painted in a matt white.
The hull below the waterline was painted in matt black.
Above the waterline was painted in the same matt grey as the decks

Then all the cabins & superstructures were glued into place

Todays effort was as follows.
Install & rig the masts.
Install & rig the lifeboats.
Install the smoke stack.
Install the anchors, and then cable winches, & fuel drums, on the rear deck.
The auxiliary ships wheel, on the crew quaters.
The vents on the main deck.
Install the access ladders.
Paint the radar, sonars, & searchlights in silver.
Take some pictures of the finished product.

Maiden should be next weekend if I'm not on night shift again.
I've really enjoyed this project.

Cheers.
Paul.

The finished model
IMAG0015.jpg

The crews quaters.
IMAG0013.jpg

The pilot house.
IMAG0014.jpg

A view of the stern.
IMAG0016.jpg

A view of the bow.
IMAG0017.jpg

[785boats]

A couple more pics.

Another angle of the stern section.
IMAG0019.jpg

Ply added across the bulkheads to spread the weight of the lead bricks onto the bulkheads.
IMAG0021.jpg

Just a view of the engine room & looking at the rear of the ship.
IMAG0022.jpg

Cheers.

[fweasel]

It turned out amazing, as usual.

[785boats]

Hey there mate.
Thanks for the compliment.
I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out too.
Especially since it was mostly made from polystyrene sheeting. Which I'd never used before.
I'm a bit of a fan of it now.

Some years ago I archived this tutorial on paint chipping & rust streaking.
I might apply some of his techniques to make this ol' ship look a bit used and battle weary. After all, these boats are over 50 years old.
He has some other brilliant tutorials on youtube too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMncvt0BpbI

A bit of a change from where we like to keep our nice new fast boats looking as pristine as possible, for as long as possible, eh.

[Jesse J]

Wow Paul, great work as usual! You made a beauty of a beast; yes weathering would be a great add.
And a day before her 45 anniversary!!

How much ballast you gonna need to replicate 25,400 tons of iron ore? I suspect 20-30lbs ... Don’t forget flotation!

[785boats]

Thanks Jesse.
I've made up 3 lead bricks weighing a total of about 8kg. Plus I have some smaller ones for final trimming.
I'll just have to wait & see on the sea trials.
I don't think there will be enough room for enough foam to hold up the weight of the boat should it capsize or fill with water.
But it will never come to that. I hope.