tug azziz caernarfon uk

forestay and sprits'le yard rigging.

2010-09-19T16:04:00.002+01:00

using notes, drawings and fotos made up new fore stay. left tensioning purchase slack and plenty of spare at the top end. seized bottom end to bowsprit then fed top end up through slot in fore top, round mast then back down through other top slot and finished off with another seizing. finally tensioned with purchase and tied off same.
made new fore topmast stay and purchase. fixed standing part to end of sprit and a lead block further aft. rove thread through stay block and lead block and secured hauling part on fo'c'sle rail.

secured standing part of yard braces to top of fore stay with a clove hitch. made up two outrigger blocks and fixed to yard ends, then wired two lead blocks to fore stay, just above purchase.

rove brace threads through outrigger blocks to lead blocks and made fast on fo'c'sle rail.

yard is pinned to sprit but fixed parrel ropes to yard/sprit.

made up two blocks with tails and secured inboard on outrigger eyes, for topping lift blocks. made up eyes to topping lift threads and secured to end of sprit then rove thread through topping lift blocks to two lead blocks at bottom end of fore stay and secured on fo'c'sle rail.

hours 102.

The radio gear.

2010-04-08T17:12:00.004+01:00

I got my transmitter back from graupner yesterday. Apparently the programming switches had been damaged by condensation caused by keeping it in the garage. Seems a bit wierd cos my garage is insulated and heated. Maybe other half has run the tumble drier with vent hose off.
Also received a 4.8V, 2200mA/hr NiMH flatpack receiver battery to power the bow thruster motor. The wires fitted are too thin to carry 4Amps so I opened it up and soldered 5A wires to the terminals and left the original wires in place for charging. Made up some futaba plugs and connected power pack to thruster circuit.
Programmed transmitter (graupner MC-12) for model no. 2- azi and model type AC which keeps all channels totally separate with no mixing. Switched everything on and set up channels 2 and 4 as stbd and port rudders respectively. Adjusted trim electronically for midships helm and adjusted limits also on the computer. Reversed servo directions an steering is sorted. Next I programmed the esc.s for stop and full power. So all ready for the lake on Sunday.
Every one up there keeps telling me about the aziz that sank cos the main hatch leaked so I have carefully sealed the edges with silcone. Trouble is that the hatch warped when the wooden sheathing was fitted. I stiffened hatch underneath with mahogany strips but can't do it properly due to the main hull crossbeam getting in the way so it still bends in the middle. To cure this I fitted a plastic clip under the hatch in way of said beam and similar to the aft clip. This holds the center down but causes the ford end to stick up and break the seal. All I could think of doing was fitting a screw through the ford end into the ford crossbeam. This seems to have done the trick. Have ordered two model 20' containers which I will glue to the hatch which should stiffen it in the center.
Very much looking forward to her maiden voyage Sunday on Llyn Padarn. Hopefully someone will have a decent video camera and will put it on YouTube for me.

float test.

2010-03-20T13:55:00.003Z

next job new bathroom. gonna need bigger bath for next model!!!!

also decided boat needs a launching trolley as at 35.5 Kg its too heavy for me to lower from slipway into llyn padarn.

a great big round of applause please to Model Slipway in yorkshire for a great model at a very reasonable price. I have enjoyed every minute making.

next post will be video on the lake on youtube. will let you all know when.

electrics continued.

2010-03-20T13:17:00.002Z

short delay caused by doing a delivery bilbao to dublin of a small
voith schneider propelled tug called Beaufort for dublin port company.
6 days to take over from shipyard, obtain certificates and prepare for sea passage. 4 beautiful days at sea with very kind weather force 3 max. we had to go round the coast of biscay for insurance purposes but more days more dollars. a day handover in dublin, night in hotel then back to holyhead on ferry. no flying, yippee!!

got home to find speed controllers had arrived so installed all
electrics. but then found transmitter had been affected by damp
so could not program it for new model. sent that off to the
graupner transmitter krankenhaus for repair. while waiting for
that to return did float test in bath, shifted main batteries
to obtain required trim and found she floats on her marks with
no further ballasting required.
am using 2 x 12v, 7 A/hr gell batteries mounted on their sides
for main motors,
1 x 6v pack of 4 x 1.5 v 2500 mA/hr NiMH AA cells for bow
thruster.

2 x 20 Amp viper marine reversable electronic speed controllers
(esc) for main motors.
1 x 10 Amp esc for thruster.

2 x standard servos for port and starboard rudders.
2 x 20 Amp switches and 1 x 10 Amp switch for main motors
and thruster respectively.
2 x 15 amp fuses for motors and 1 x 5 Amp fuse for bow
thruster.
intend rigging external charging points for batteries so won't
need to disturb covers.

1st pic shows main batteries, receiver and its powerpack.
2nd shows antenna exit point between port funnel and deckhouse.
3rd shows escs and servos with esc switches.
4th shows motor and thruster switches and fuses.

total hours 300 dead.

although this model more involved than voith "parat" experience
gained doing her stood me in good stead for this one.

am going away again next week to deliver a supply boat from
ravenna (Italy) to Istanbul. should get 2 weeks out of that.

FINISHED!!!!

2010-03-06T15:02:00.002Z

finished fitting tyres, last touch up and construction is complete.

still waiting for r/c gear. come on postie!!!

the electronics bit.

2010-03-05T11:07:00.003Z

yesterday realised model had no radio antennae so knocked up a duplex pair of mf/hf aerials with antenna matching units out of a scrap bits of 6x3mm plastic and 0.8mm wire. will do some vhf aerials this afternoon. glued up the rudder halves onto the rudder shafts with slow set epoxy. got to be really careful not to get any ooze out in the bearings. painted inside hull with grey primer, bit of window dressing. have been looking at electronic speed controllers (esc) on 'tinterweb. have had my eye on viper marine 20amp units for main motors and 10 amp for bow thruster motor. however b/th is 6volt and main motors are 12v. i understand that escs do not reduce voltage but switch the supply on and off very quickly. the varying of time on, with respect to time off, thus permits the motor to be controlled. i believed that excess current (electron flow) is what causes motors to burn out, so if the current is restricted heat build up should also be restricted and as i can program my transmitter to not request esc to deliver full current then my motor would be safe. i needed advice so spoke to mrs. white at model slipway and she put me on to dave milbourn at action electronics (he drew up the working plans for aziz and a plan of the suggested electrical layout). he shot me down in flames and suggested i use a separate 6v power supply dedicated to the bow thruster. i decided to heed his advice as i don't want to prove myself wrong the hard way. (i have made the thruster motor accessible but only just). he also suggested i us a dual mixed esc module which reduces the speed of the inboard motor when rudders are moved. i have seen these modules in action but they are used to simplify the installation and save money but this is obtained at the expense of the full manoeverability that i wish for. it has been shown many times on full sized vessels, turning at speed, that reducing power to the inboard engine actually reduces rate of turn rather than increasing rot. this is because the lift of the rudder is greater than the torque between props. i am going to have independent motors and also independent rudders as per most supply boats. on a full size vessel it can take 20 seconds for the rudders to go hard over from one side to the other and when your close under a rig that's too slow. by swinging both rudders inboard and forgetting about them, the rudder on the ahead screw is always in position to swing the stern.(rudder position on astern screw has little or no effect). the engines can go from ahead to astern in most cases in 8 seconds or less. this is what i'm used to and will incorparate in the finished model. then i can "make it talk".

so i'm eagerly awaiting the postman with my servos, extension leads and escs. got to get some fuse holders and a couple of 20 amp switches and then i can box the job off. i'm going away on sunday to deliver a new tug from bilbao, spain to its new owners in dublin. hope to be back in 7-10 days weather permitting (march-biscay-some hope) more days more dollar!!

continued.

2010-03-03T19:31:00.003Z

painted navlights, fitted them, then fitted radars, finally secured mainmast on funnel mounts.

fitted liferafts and made up securing wires.

winches in position but not yet secured.

fitted bridge to foc'sle ladders. made up, fitted and painted outboard handrails.

did a fair bit of touching up on paintwork. never seem to finish. every time i look from a funny angle i see more overpaint and holidays.

should finish construction tomorrow. then just got to do the radio bits, 2x 15 amp electronic speed controllers for main motors, 1x 10 amp for bowthruster and 2x standard servos for rudders.

total hours 260.

end in sight!!!

2010-03-03T18:54:00.002Z

finished putting wires on winches. made up and fitted assorted sockets and eyes on ends of the wires. made two standard sockets,(can't remember what they're called, Smudge???)out of a bit of white metal, cut roughly to shape, drilled the wire and shackle holes then filed to a finish.

made a ring for the anchor handling wire out of the ring (not required) off one of the anchors.

fitted the props, outboard turning, used medium loctite thread lock on threads of props and universal couplings.

see next post. can only get 3 pics uploaded per post.

quarter fenders and putting wires on tugger and towing winches.

2010-03-02T17:35:00.003Z

the kit comes with rope which i will use to make up 4 mooring lines. the winches should have wire, approx 1.6mm for towing drum and 0.5mm for tugger winch. have been on the lookout for suitable wire and while getting some threadloc for the props and couplings in the motor factors, spotted this (0.8mm stainless 3 strand) which looks ok on both drums. it takes nearly as long to do as the real thing. not my favourite job. will do other tugger and anchor handling drum tomorrow. also finished the quarter fenders.
total hours 250.

more fitting out.

2010-03-01T18:40:00.003Z

fitted all remaining vents on foc'sle. then anchor cables.

then fitted remaining ladder, discharge/load valve sets port and stbd, bunker connections and fire dampers.

from 5mm plastic pipe and 1.6mm brass rod, made up wire deflectors over bitts. drilled 1.6mm holes in bulwark capping and fixed with cyo.

drilled 88x 0.8mm holes for u-bolts to hold fender chains. when fitting u-bolt found the holes too small so had to re-drill 1mm. plan stated 0.7mm but though i have this drill, hand-drill chuck is too big to hold it.

fitted the bow fender. u-bolts are pushed through the holes and the ends bent over inside hull. very fiddly. tomorrow will complete quarter fenders.
total hours 241.

final painting, transfers and fitting out.

2010-02-28T18:10:00.002Z

yesterday finished painting small stuff and fitted anodes to rudders and kort nozzles.

today, fixed transfers on fire hose boxes, access doors and hull,
(names, port of registry, ford draft marks and bow thruster warning.

fitted out monkey island with standard magnetic compass, horn and mounting frame and three searchlights. then fitted 4x wheelhouse doors, glazed them then fitted glazing to windows. have left the protective film on glase, will remove just before securing wheelhouse to accomodation.

next fitted out fo'c'sle with rope store hatch.cable guides, windlass,
escape hatch, vent, large and small bitts, spare prop and anchor,
big pipe?, builders and spec plates and 2x floodlights

finally fitted crane, control station and hoses, doti boat, store and emergency generator room doors, 4x fire hose boxes, vents and portside ladder.

a good day.

total hours 232.

painting continues.

2010-02-25T19:00:00.002Z

yesterday and today spent painting all the small parts plus wheeelhouse and monkey island decks. fitted fire monitor system and pipework. then fitted funnel vent grills, company logos, exhaust outlets and weather doors.

total hours 216.

and more painting.

2010-02-23T22:00:00.002Z

touched up deck green around stanchion bases. sprayed wheelhouse and accommodation with air brush. air brush went tits up so had to strip and rebuild it. the compressor started blowing off and not switching off so overhauled switch, gauge, and safety valve so now good as new. while i was on that added a pressure gauge on the low pressure side of the reducer which i had chopped off my broken car tyre pump when that burned out. knew it would come in handy. all that fixed resumed painting masts, winches, vents and liferaft cradles. also drilled deck for cradle attachment points. finally brush painted bulkheads (two more coats).
need to cut in deck green around bulkheads tomorrow.

dummied everything up to see how she's going to look. deck green doesn't look nearly as bad when deck gear is in place.
still a fair bit to do but end in sight. have to start looking on e-bay for speed controllers, servos, switches and fuse holders. intend having external chargeing point so dont need to keep removing batteries.

total hours 202.

more painting.

2010-02-22T17:46:00.003Z

started off by painting the decks with revelle aqua paint (water based acrylic), applied after thinning with brushes. not a brilliant finish but unable to use airbrush as the paint always creeps under masking tape, (see waterline pinstripe). next i painted the elephant rails. not too fiddly, same paint type. after that painted the lower rails and stanchions white, top rail black. very fiddly. went over bulwark capping orange with brush as spraygun missed most of it. painted bulkheads white , again with brush. needs another coat. finally painted access hatch and fitted wood sheathing. had to scrape away excess cyo on cross bands before wood fitted neatly. need to touch up deck green in way of stanchions as got an attack of the shakes when painting them and got some white on the deck.
total hours 193.

topsides orange.

2010-02-21T19:07:00.003Z

the very nice man in B&Q mixed me up a very nice "african adventure 3". not as red as the spec but i wanted a bigger contrast between topsides and hull. not likely to lose it on llyn padarn, eh!! bit of cutting back on pinstripe then its deck green.

total hours 184.

anti-fouling.

2010-02-20T17:14:00.002Z

cut back the grey all over hull with 800 wet/dry used wet with soapy water, repaired with air-brush and removed paint from pinstripe. masked up and sprayed 3 coats berry wine red satin acrylic. again a few runs so will let harden overnight and cut back with 1200 w/dry tomorrow. then go hunting for a nice orange/red for topsides.

total hours 177.

1st coat of primer.

2010-02-19T16:39:00.002Z

one coat B&Q grey acrylic primer/undercoat. new spraygun and new paint. a few runs and some contamination causeing small pits but no real problems. all parts were washed in warm soapy water and dusted off with panel wipes and tack rag. found ring locking spray horns was greased. not a good idea. possibly picked up some small specks of grease. will thouroughly clean gun before next use. primer coat highlighted many areas that need a bit of filling and rubbing down but on the whole very happy. will finish outer hull with the big gun also accommodation white, will do the rest with airbrush and brushes.

total hours 173.

waterline.

2010-02-17T21:15:00.004Z

all construction is finished. prior to painting need to mark out waterline. made sure hull on flat surface, slightly raised as running gear projects below ships bottom, upright and even keel and clear run around worktop. then made up tool to correct height using data from plan at aft perpendicular. superglued pencil to top of tool, waxed bottom of tool and ran it round the hull so marking waterline perfick. went to halfords for some panel wipes and white pinstripe for boot topping but they didn't have suitable stripes in white. will try siop y modur am. intend using white pinstripe to mark out waterline, prime all over the the hull with grey, covering pinstripe as well and after rubbing down, mask off above w/l and spray below w/l with red oxide primer to simulate anti-fouling colour. next, remove masking and mask off bottom side and spray above w/l with final colour. then cut back with 1200 wet/dry paper removing paint from pinstripe which should leave a nice white boot topping. to get the required satin finish and protect fragile acrylic paint and transfers will spray over all with satin polyurethane varnish. must remember to mask off propshaft threads and rudder posts as not fitting rudders till after painting.

the foremast.

2010-02-17T13:27:00.002Z

remade the support stays and completed foremast. VERY fiddly.

total hours 167.

towing winch, tugger winches and foremast.

2010-02-16T19:44:00.002Z

started of today building towing/anchor winch. straight forward but needed to paint inner aspects before installing reels as would be difficult later. will fit wire when painted properly and can source 1.7mm wire.

next moved on to tugger winches. again straight forward.

next made a start on the foremast which requiers 34 cuts for rungs, 6mm centres plus assorted 1.6 mm drillings for supports and 1mm for nav light mounts.

so i made up a jig/guide by making 2 cuts 6mm apart in jig so now simply make 1 cut, move it along, secure with spare hacksaw blade and repeat 34 times.

then made up supports very accurately and installed same only to find stays 8mm too short!!
mast has 1.6mm brass peg inserted into base this fits through fo'c'sle deck into underdeck beam so is quite rigid but is fragile so will be dismountable for transporting boat. stays will be push fit in stem capping.

total hours 163.

hawsepipes, spurling pipes and windlass.

2010-02-15T19:49:00.004Z

no provision on plans for hawsepipes or spurling pipes so made up some dummy pipes out of 5mm brass pipe 25mm long with one end blocked off and the other end belled out. dopped one pair down through hawse rings and the other pair pushed down through 5mm holes drilled under windlass. secured with drop of cyo. will drop chain down holes and secure with cyo when i fit windlass after painting deck.

rest of time spent fettling white metal parts for windlass and assembling same.

total hours 155.

wire guide and deck crane.

2010-02-13T17:53:00.002Z

made up thewire guide from 8mm dowel and plastic webs. i clamped the two long rails together the ran an 8mm drill between them for the female mitres then rounded off the ends of the crosspiece. drilled 8mm holes in aft access deck to locate legs. tacked legs in place then fitted fillet/webs and glued up everything.
bit of fettleing on the deck crane parts, drilled 1mm holes for ramand used 1mm wire for ram.

total hours 150. well done wales!!!

aft gates and more small stuff

2010-02-12T18:00:00.002Z

finished the gates then made up vents and valve assemblies. cut out and made up doti boat chocks.

total hours 147

elephant rails and aft gates.

2010-02-11T18:54:00.004Z

for the elephant rail i fettled and sanded the uprights then useing a rule taped to the bench and a set square i aligned te uprights on 48mm centers and tacked them to the bench with cyo. then i inserted a 1.6mm wire into a 3.3mm plastic tube and bent this into the rail shape., taped it into the the tops of the uprights then wicked in a drop of cyo on each join. while this hardening marked out and drilled 1.6mm holes in each side of the after deck the glued rails assemblys in place useing a set square to ensure each upright was vertical.

last job of the day was to bend up, drill , assemble and solder the 3.2mm and 1mm wires makeing up the aft deck gates.

total hours 139.

small stuf vents, hatch trunking, liferafts and cradles and doti boat.

2010-02-10T18:00:00.003Z

cut out, trimmed and glued together the liferafts and doti boat.

cut out, trimmed and glued up hatch and vent trunkings.

fashioned and glued up pipe vent.

finally fettled liferaft cradle castings and assembled with

1.6mm and 0.8mm wire.

total hours 132.

ladders, lifebuoy frames and monitors

2010-02-09T20:04:00.002Z

finished off the monitor system, not glued down until after painting.

then cut out, bent and soldered lifebuoy frames to rails, glued to bulkheads. 8 peices in all. a fair bit of tidying up with file and wire wool ahead.

finally things starting to come together.
total hours 124.

mast nav light houseings and monitor sysems.

2010-02-08T20:50:00.003Z

made up, fettled and attached nav light

houseings/mounts to mast.

started on fixtures and fittings for fire monitors on monkey island.

fixed sea water pipe mounts into pre-drilled holes in

monkey island deck.

mainmast

2010-02-07T23:00:00.001Z

this took 11 hours. really tricky. total hours 114.

lower mast and topmast platform.

2010-02-05T17:16:00.005Z

14 parts, 6 hours and still got to fix steps and handrails!!!

total hours 103.

foredeck rails and mainmast supports.

2010-02-04T19:43:00.007Z

spent the whole day marking out, drilling 0.8mm holes,
bending up and fixing foredeck rails.

finally cut out, assembled and fitted lower mainmast support
brackets.

total hours 97.

rain deflectors, handrails and window platform.

2010-02-03T18:58:00.004Z

started first thing this morning sanding down the filler on

windnd deflectors around stanchion cut outs.

then marked out for 0.8mm hloes for bulkhead handrails.

found it better to only drill for one end of a rail, then bend rail to

shape, fit it in the hole, then drill the hole at the other end. wires

are glued on the inside.

cut out the platform from the etched brass sheet, bent it to shape in the vice, drilled the holes using platform as a guide and glued in place.

wheelhouse in place temporarily. will be easier to paint before fitting permanently.

total hours 90.

monkey island rails, wind deflector and ladders

2010-02-02T18:42:00.003Z

today spent making up rails, fitting and soldering. then cut out
parts for wind deflector and fitting. then used a little P38 filler
around the stanchions where the protrude through the deflector.
lastly soldered handrail to top rails for ladders.

a very fiddly day.

will sand down filler tomorrow.

total hours 84.

the wheelhouse

2010-02-01T19:17:00.000Z

started off today by soldering the top rails to the stanchions around the wheelhouse. this went better than i had hoped, washed the flux off with wet tissue paper and repolished the area with a bit of wire wool.

next cut out trimmed and sanded down parts for the wheelhouse. glued up in same way as for accommodation, using a block of squared off mahogany clamped to the bench as a support and guide so everything ends up square and even.

when w/house finished i cut out of the instruction book the drilling plan for monkey island rails and fixtures. i marked the positions of the 8mm holes through the paper with a bradawl, removed the paper and drilled all the holes. then cut the stanchions out of the etched brass sheet. next bent up the wires for the rails using the holes as guide. will complete installing rails tomorrow.

total hours 77.

yesterday work continued on accommodation

2010-01-31T23:35:00.000Z

put bridge wings on, cut out sidelight apertures with Stanley knife and file. fitted sidelight boxes and ground down and sanded flush.

built one funnel casing and glued to accommodation.

today built stbd funnel casing but didn't fit until 8mm holes drilled to accept aft rails and ladder hand rails.

drilled 8mm holes in deck to take rail stanchions. cut stanchions from etched brass sheet leaving the sprue on the bottoms of the stanchions. these can be bent over after fitting which helps to hold everything in place until stanchions can be glued underneath out of sight.

bent rails out of 8mm brass wire with longnose pliers using holes in deck as a guide then slid stanchions onto wires. put stanchion base pegs into holes on deck, bent over the ends and when everything lined up nicely glued up with cyo and an accelerator pen which was left over after fitting cornice and pelmet on our new fitted kitchen. cyo goes off in seconds and really speeds up the job.

one side railings to glue up then can start on mainmast. ladder not fitted but used to get angle of handrail correct. ladder made from white metal and needs fettling and painting before being attached.

total hours 71

finished hull, started accommodation

2010-01-29T17:57:00.000Z

finished bulwark capping trimmed, filed and rubbed down.

basic hull now complete with motors, running gear, wiring and bow thruster installed.

using foredeck coaming as a jig, cut out and trimmed

parts and glued up bulkheads of accommodation.

total hours 55

aft deck bulwarks and capping

2010-01-28T17:26:00.000Z

spent the day cutting out, trimming and fitting

bulwark stiffeners and capping. 90% finished,

just got stbd side capping to fit then shape

and sand to size.

total hours 49

filling sanding and start of bulwark stiffeners and capping

2010-01-28T00:02:00.000Z

yesterday and today filled small imperfections
around deck edges with p38 filler.
did same with running gear.

noticed after removing cramps and ticky tape holding down
foredeck that aft deck had sagged in way of store rooms.
tried jacking up from keel but to no avail. with winch fitted don't think it will show. caused by having to pinch hull in to width of foredeck??

today cut out stiffeners and bulwark capping. made a jig to hold stiffeners in position and vertical the glued with a drop of cyo.
fitted stem capping and sanded flush with hull. also cut out
spaces for fairleads. wil finnish bow tomorrow and make a start
on afterdeck bulwarks. hull work will then be completed and ready for priming and topcoats. am using acrylic waterbased satin paint applied with airbrush and spraygun. expect primer to reveal many small blemishes which will need filling and sanding.
having great difficulty with auto focus when taking pics. must be cos it's all white.

glazing, aft access cover and foredeck.

2010-01-24T18:27:00.000Z

ground down scuttles inside flush with hull

glazed with small squares of clear plastic

glued on with polystyrene cement. while these

were going off----

built frames for deck sheathing on aft inspection

cover. i cut the wood sheathing at the same time

and used each piece as a jig for the next cross frame

ensuring a good fit. numbered each wood piece

and its corresponding position on cover.

fitted the aft catch for cover.

then built up accomodation coaming. when

finished accomodation lifts off allowing access to batteries,

receiver, speed controllers and thruster.

finally glued foredeck to hull.

total hours 39.

stern roller and foredeck beams

2010-01-23T19:01:00.000Z

today finished for'd bulkhead store and genny room thenfitted stern roller. did some grinding and smoothing in way of foredeck edges ready for fitting deck. assembled 3 foredeck beams and fitted to same.

total hours 33

fitted aft deck, hatch and forward bulkhead

2010-01-22T23:00:00.000Z

fitted oak rails as rudder servo mounts

and a battery separator come bottom stiffener. will fit cross mounts when model near completion and i can do a float test. will move batteries fore or aft to set trim. not enough room to fit 12v 7A/Hr batteries through aft hatch but should fit through for'd access.

glued on aft deck with polystyrene cement.

fitted access hatch base, forward bulkhead, store and emergency generator room bulkheads loose not glued yet as athwartships b/heads need trimming in way of bulwarks.

total hours 27

fitted motors

2010-01-21T19:47:00.001Z

after testing motors to find out which connections give which rotation direction i marked the positive terminals red. i want outboard turning screws when both going ahead. soldered wires (17 amp) first. epoxied mahogany block to hull then used plastic bearers to obtain correct alignment then drilled pilot holes and secured motors with small screws.

fitted previously consructed beams in place.

total hours 18.5

blogging 3

fixing slow computer 5!!!!

bow thruster and running gear

2010-01-21T19:11:00.000Z

yesterday and today permanently epoxied the b/t unit into bow space. soldered the wires on first and made a mounting block out of scrap mahogany. will fit sucuring strap tomorrow.

trimmed thruster tube ends and sanded down.

removed one arm from rudder control levers as will be useing 2 servos for independent rudders. they are cheap enough and i've got 11 channels to play with so why not. makes for much simpler manoevering. you just fold both rudders inboard and forget about them. when running just use one rudder to steer. ifiled a groove in the top of each shaft which i roughed up a bit withe a file and put a drop of cyo on the join as i've heard they come loose.

next fitted the running gear. this was tricky. need 6 hands. got all held temporarily with clamps and ticky tape. found it necessary to extend forward the slots for the "a" frames by about 1/8th inch before it was possible to get rudder rods through skeg holes. when all in correct position found that one nozzle mount ing plate lay evenly on hull but other one had a void under it. fileing it flat would have made things worse so i glued up as it was with araldite 30min then when set used a hypodermic syringe to inject araldite into the void. will require quite a lot of work to grind down joint edges and fill small gaps with p38 filler prior to priming.

fitting rudder stock bushes

2010-01-19T00:49:00.000Z

made a jig out of scrap mahogany with 4mm holes
at 124mm centers. clamped jig to edge of bench.
positioned hull with rudder holes above jig and weighed hull down with 12v batteries. then slipped stocks down through hull holes into jig thus ensuring stocks in position and vertical. then simply fitted bushes over stocks and rapid araldited to hull. most important to get this right as it locates correct position of running gear.

fitting deck supports

2010-01-19T00:36:00.000Z

after smoothing inner faces of bulwarks and roughening glueing surface for supports i started fixing the first layer of supports with 30 minute

araldite. every time somebody asks me what i want for xmas i always say i can't have too many clamps. this year someone finally bought me some!!

while the 1st lot was going off i started glueing up some deck beams. i like useing jigs whenever possible.

bow thruster continued

2010-01-19T00:18:00.000Z

holes ready for thruster installation.

this is a graupner thruster. the tube is 18mm o/s diameter which is smaller than on the plan. the tube is also too short to mount in the plan position and has to go about 1" futher forward.

i left it unglued until i could get some capacitors to suppress the motor. i phoned model slipway this morning to order a set and they kindly said i didn't need them so will fit it permanently after i fit the running gear. i've mounted it with the motor horizontal and above and forward of the tube to protect from water damage in the event of a leak and to allow access to the impeller in case it gets fouled in use. willsolder the wires to the motor tabs befor glueing in position.

fitting bow thruster

2010-01-18T23:44:00.000Z

marked the center on each side of the bow as per plan then drilled a 5mm hole on both sides.

made up a scribing tool out of 5mm o/s diameter brass pipe. on to this glued a piece of dowel drilled with 2 holes, 1 at 5mm and 1 at 3mm with 9mm centers. screwed a drywall screw in the small hole.

passed the tool through both holes and scribed one side then reversed tool and scribed other side.

highlighted marks with pencil then cut out with a burr in the dremel.

more progress on model

2010-01-14T17:46:00.000Z

today was spent removing moulding lines and marking out hull for trimming and cutting out freeing ports, fairlead holes, running gear and access doors.

i used random orbir sander fitted 120 line
disc to remove keel line and area around

nozzles. very quick and easy.

then, useing a pair of dividers and a rule, i
marked out for the cutouts for access door

etc by measuring on the plan from suitable

reference points and transferring to the hull
with pencil.

finally, drilled and cut the holes for the
shafts, rudder posts and "A" frames.

total building time 8.5 hours

log of building model of tug "azziz" supplied by model slipway, uk.

2010-01-13T18:10:00.000Z

the model is my combined 60th birthday & christmas present. received it on saturday morning and have been reading and studying the plans and instructions.

this is the second model i have built, the first one was the graupner tug parat.

after preparing my workshop i got started on making the stand. i cut the paper template off the plan and transferred it to some scrap 6mm ply.

i cut two templates for routing.

after sanding smooth edges i temporarily stuck

them to some prepared , sized and rough cut

mahogany and trimmed them with my router.

after a quick sand i glued up the stand.

will clean off and seat tomorrow.

hours so far = 4