Been away on holiday for a few weeks so not been doing much but back at it again -

Pulley blocks
The mast has a small pulley block on each end of the cross bar, but I wanted to have a go at making them so using some 0.5mm I marked out the profile and then bent the flat pieces into a channel this was followed by drilling an 8BA clearance hole through both sides. Next I machined the centre pulley out of brass with a 2mm rad to suit the rope I will be using; I also did an extra round dummy pulley in steel to use as the template to file the radius on the frame and use as a guide for the width of the block. Using a smooth file I carefully filed the radius on each piece using the dummy pulley as a guide and trimmed the width, this was followed using wet and dry paper to finish. To fasten the blocks to the cross bar they need a screw fastening on the top, this was done by soldering an 8BA nut on the top. Finally the brass pulley wheel was secured in place with an 8BA nut and bolt, with a threaded stud in the top.

Deck rigging screw eyes - can be bought, but again, I had to have a go, so first I ground a tool to form the end ball which would also part the piece off after it had been turned and threaded. The bar was turned down to the thread o/d and then using an 8BA die the diameter was threaded. I then used the form tool to produce the ball end, this worked OK but could be improved on as the final turned finish wasn’t as good as I’d hoped for, but I don’t have time to spend on this as I only wanted six eyes so the diameters will be finished with a small file and wet and dry. Turned pieces finished, next I set up a gang of slitting saws to mill the flats, holding each part in a split threaded clamp in the machine vice the flats were milled in parallel. Finally using the same clamp jig the ball was drilled with a 2mm hole again to suit the 2mm rope. There’s some final dressing to do before the parts are clear lacquered.

It’s time to start looking at some paint preparation as this is something that can be done alongside some of the remaining jobs. I have spent hours glassing the hull and deck and the cabin roofs and then finishing to a standard for the first coats of primer, this was achieved by progressing through various grades of wet and dry from 400 to 800. This gives a good adhesion surface for the first primer coat. As I have said in previous posts I made as many parts detachable as was practical, so on the forward cabin roof (which is in itself detachable) all parts are removed leaving a relatively flat surface to prepare, the underside was masked and then put in the queue for painting. Mid cabin and rear cabin roofs - again all parts were removed and placed in the queue/turntable,
Spraying is a hazardous process whatever type of paint you use, so it’s essential that some sort of extraction is used and an appropriate face mask ( I use a P100 rated mask because it gives the highest level of protection in the widest variety of situations and will filter out 100% of both oil-based and non-oil-based particles.). This can also be used for most of my wood working activities, however; if this isn’t an option for you then I suggest you spray outdoors. My spray booth is made from an old cooker hood mounted in my workshop with a table below. On this I used plain sheets of hardboard which I made temporary fixings to hold a box together. The extraction element was a piece of old clothes dryer flexible 4” pipe which when I’m spraying hangs out of the window.
Back to spraying, I use a compressor and small spray gun for this size of work so I purchased a litre of grey primer and 5 litres of thinners. I am no professional sprayer but have sprayed a number of cars in the past and I have learnt that once again ”Less is more” so a number of light coats is better than one thick coat that runs, meaning lots of sanding and a repeat performance of painting. First three coats of grey primer applied and I’m pleased with how it’s going. I took the opportunity to spray some of the other parts that were finished while the gun was full of primer. Spraying is one of those jobs which is over before it’s begun yet the preparation seems to take weeks but it always pays off in the end.
Next will be a top coat of Appliance White.

I have decided that the rear upper deck and the rear aft cockpit will be a one piece unit. After see another boat with a similar set but not both decks were joined. This means that the upper deck and lower deck and the sides of the cockpit will all be joined forming a box. This has a number of benefits these are:-
1. It makes a water tight compartment which can be emptied if required. (except for the removable hatch I did in the initial build, this will have to have an “o” ring type seal)
2. It makes it easier to get to the servo area without taking all the smaller parts out e.g. foam tanks ladders etc.
3. Fitting the ladders made easier with a single 10 BA bolt
Disadvantages
A lot more work!.

Because the individual parts are already made and in some cases painted I need to make sure that all surfaces that will require gluing are suitably abraded before applying any type adhesive. Additional work will be required around the top edge of the cockpit to give a lip to stop any water from entering the servo area. I decide this would look nice in mahogany to match the floor edging, along with some corner pieces in polished brass this edging will also add substantial rigidity to the whole structure.
The mahogany was cut from a spare piece of old table top to 9mm by 6mm and then a 1.5 mm x 2mm deep groove was cut along the length to slot onto the top of the box section. The corner brass pieces were fabricated from 0.5 mm brass sheet and the joints soft soldered with a strengthening piece underneath.

The box section sides were already made and painted so had to have their edges prepared for gluing by removing a 2mm wide strip along each edge. The area where the box fits had to be prepared with spacers of 0.6 mm card and strips of baking sheet to stop the glue sticking to the sides of the boat. This method ensures that the box fits exactly in its hole.
After epoxying the box section to consolidate the Rear upper deck & Aft cockpit deck I could then glue the mahogany rail to the top along with the brass corners this was left to set overnight. The top rail was then radiused to finish it off and a first coat of varnish applied

 

Next in the line of adornments in the aft deck are the ladders, these were made from 2mm mahogany to the plan included in the kit. To make sure that all parts were identical I cut pieces to slightly longer and wider than required then clamped them together and drilled two 0.4mm holes through them all and tapped a 0.5mm brass pins through to hold them all together for machining. I made use of the Lidl disc sander and shaped the sandwiched block to the dimensions/profile taken from the drawing. I now disassembled the four pieces in preparation for drilling the holes which will determine the position of the stair runs. I need only to mark out one side piece so I can set the drilling machine stops to hold (by hand) each piece for drilling a single hole, then reset for the next hole/s until all pieces have a set of 4 identical holes. Next the stair pieces need to be made, again to the correct sizes as marked on the drawing (out with the sander). Having made the hole position of the sides so precise the same needed to be applied to the pre drilling of the stair runs, so I made a small jig to drill the pilot holes, just clamping each piece under the aluminium angle and spotting through each hole. Some final sanding of the individual pieces and then the assembly was put together using cyno adhesive. I wanted to include a brass stair lip on each step, so using some small angle brass, these were cut to extra length and then again using a small jig they were sanded to exact length; (trimming this small section brass is difficult for all the available sections so using the sander and an appropriate jig give a great finish). The brass pieces were stuck on each stair front using cyno. The ladders now need to be fitted in place, I used some brass angle on the rear of each step and then drilled and tapped the rear of the step 10BA. I could now drill a hole in the rear wall to clamp each step in place.

Well what can I say about suction hoses other than thanks to Rob for doing all the leg work to a great standard, all the drawings are well done and easy to follow. I’m a retired engineering toolmaker so the components are quickly machined, as Rob says the hardest part of this job is filing the square holes of the underwater part, which has the stainless steel mesh inside.
One tip for drilling the 4 holes around the periphery is to leave the finished component on the parent material, this allows the component to be held in a vice or dividing head on a drilling machine or milling machine table without any damage to the finished surface, they can then be parted off when drilling operation is finished.
I decided to drill the holes to a depth rather than through to make it accurate when fitting the four turn handles. The small handles were machined with a small ball end and parted off to an exact length.
The fitting of the handles was a dilemma; should I solder then in or use an adhesive. I knew solder would be secure but cyno needed to be tested, so a dummy handle and hole were glued and after a few minutes I tried to pull it out, all I managed to do was destroy the handle and snap it. The solder option would result in some amount of cleaning up after with little chance of getting all the visible solder removed without an awful lot of fettling.
I decided to use cyno being the quickest and cleanest, each handle was cleaned/degreased and a drop of cyno down each hole then quickly push the handle home (hence the accurate length of handle and depth of hole).
Finally the stainless mesh was fabricated into a tube to slide inside the body, the end was formed using a 10mm flat bottomed hole, and an 8mm punch, and this was then formed in the press to form a cup. The end was then pressed into the body and both secured with a drop of epoxy.
Now all the parts are finished they all get a coat of spray clear lacquer. Next on the list are the pipes.

I’ve seen a number of attempts at hose manufacture both on this site and on others, so it’s my turn to suggest a method of manufacture.
First I measured the approximate length of each of the hoses as suggested visually from the detailed drawings supplied by Mike Cummings. The length required was approximately 12” – 13” so the first operation was to source a length of 5/16” x 15” long steel.
This was centre drilled in one end so it could be supported with a revolving centre in the lathe and a 1.7 mm dia hole drill across the diameter about 11/2” from one end for the wire to be fed through and secured.
The tool post had two felt pads squashed by a metal plate to tension the wire as its pulled through onto the rod, I used the screw cutting feature set at 10 TPI as after a little trial and error this seemed to give the best looking structure to the final covered pipe.
One safety point to mention is that the coil of wire, prior to forming should be secured on a piece of dowel e.g. brush handle; this allows it to be freely pulled out through the tool post.
I had sourced some galvanised steel wire 1.5 mm dia (large coil) for the job so passing the end through the 1.7mm hole and bending it back so it wouldn’t be pulled out when the lathe is started. The speed was set at 200 rpm and the hose inner is starting to form, keep an eye on the coil so it’s freely rotating and as we are travelling from the chuck to the tailstock watch for the wire coming towards the tailstock centre and be ready to stop.
The wire can now be detached from the steel shaft.
Using the screw cutting method gives an accurate spacing requiring no adjustment to spacing before the shrink sleeve is applied; however a jig is required to hold the pipes in a circular aspect while they cool.
Finally I can epoxy the ends in place first putting 2 bands of red shrink sleeve on the tube to be shrunk at the joints after the epoxy has set.

Rob your pain was felt as I did this job, I remember thinking of you when setting this up and to be honest I'm not sure I would have done it without some sort of mechanical advantage, but, as you say you got a good finished product, I just did it faster without the pain.👍

On another note I have finished the Freeman 22 Cabin Cruiser for my Grandson and its waiting for it maiden voyage, I will post some pics when it occurs and add it to my finished boat harbour.
Also I'm moving workshop from the 4th floor to the basement, however the room needs a major refit so the modelling will be on hold for a few weeks/months, I'll keep an update on the forum section.

Trying to juggle refit of the new workshop with keeping the build going so did a first primmer coat on the whole boat, looks good and As Im away on holiday next 2 weeks it wil give it time to harden off so any minor defects can be seen to before final pimer coat , and then some colour.
Sorry about poor quality pictures, I am working on a very old computer and don't have any picture editing facilities. (my computer totally failed and Im awaiting a new delivery so maybe off line for a while)

The white metal items supplied are OK but really don‘t lend themselves to being working items. Graham93 has already completed a version which looks just like the drawing and photos available, and are the best I’ve seen. The bar has been set so here goes, whenever an item like this is been contemplated it’s always good to spend some time in planning a sequence of operations and assessing the problem area’s at the start of the work and if possible dealing with these parts first. Failure of the difficult process doesn’t mean you have wasted work on other parts that are now scrap.
I think the most difficult and problematic piece is the pipework that sits at the top and curves round in two halves, this in reality is a casting, however replicating it can be done using brass pipe. Brass pipe can be purchased in annealed form; however my stock wasn’t so the first job was to anneal the tube.
Heating to a dull red heat and allowed to cool, this treatment will soften the metal completely. In some books it is suggested that the brass should be quenched in water (which is what I do) after heating but this is to speed up the commercial process, and quenching has no effect on the annealing process. So tube annealed we need some method of retaining its tubular form during bending, in plumbing I use a spring but when you compare wall thickness/dia a spring would have to be mighty strong and so small.
An easy alternative is to crimp one end of the tube and put some soldering flux down the tube, follow this by heating with a low temperature blow torch to melt solder and fill the tube, then allow to cool.
You now have a soft tube which when bent will hold its shape. That’s the next challenge, the shape, and being able to replicate it twice, so an easy jig is required.
Having marked out a scrap piece of hardwood I cut the “U” shape using the band saw and filled a groove along the top edge, this was then placed under my drill press with the appropriate dia bar (this must be calculated accurately as it helps to create the final form) on top of the tube, then just pull gently down (it takes very little force) this jig leave a small amount to finish bend to a complete a circle, the excess length is trimmed off and then I used a piece of hard wood with a small radius on the end to tap the final curve.
Next the circle needs to be cut into two pieces I used a small slitting saw in the milling machine. Now it’s time to remove the solder, simply heat up holding in plyers and then shake vigorously to expel the solder. (Make sure you do this on your own and wear safety glasses.)
The white metal “main pillar fitting” and the monitors final “exit pipe” will be used in the unit and all that is required is to mount them in the lathe and drill a 4mm hole through each and clean up the casting. Next I cut 4 pieces of 4mm brass pipe; these will form the main water passage. Two more machine turned items are the “pivot post top” that feeds water through the 2 brass pipes into the “junction block” which then feeds into the exit pipe, sounds all very simple?
Having made all the components, it’s time to think about fastening them all together. First items to be joined are the “upstand pipe” to the “pivot post top” X 2 also the “feed to exit pipe” and the “junction block” X 2, these four joints are all to be silver soldered.
I mounted them in a piece of wood and placed a tight spring brass ring around the upright pipe to stop then sliding down when heated. Having the joints spotlessly clean is paramount, the flux is added, I insert very small pieces of silver solder into the holes at the top cross holes (less is more) a gentle heat, and watch as the flux goes “glassy”, this is closely followed by the solder melting, watching at the lowest point of the joint for the tell-tale shinny liquid metal.
No fettling is required so the 4 parts are dipped for 45 minutes in masonry brick cleaner (dilute hydrochloric acid) the parts are now clean and ready for the next soldering activity. See part 2

Some thought has to be given how to hold all these remaining parts, firstly I need to make sure that I can replicate an upward incline since there won’t be any up and down movement, only rotation.
Here comes another jig, a simple block of ½ inch hardwood with the angle cut at 200 and the corner removed to allow all the soldering to take place.
Carefully marking out a centre line I used small brass pins to hold the pre silver soldered pipes in position on the flat sides. I now used some clamps to hold the brass pipes in place, check all the alignments then flux is applied.
Very gently apply the heat with a soldering iron until the solder flows, it’s important to tack both ends of each pipe first on each side as at this stage the set-up is delicate to say the least and can be dislodged very easily. Then follow round to complete the joints making sure you don’t overheat the whole assembly and melting the parts already soldered.
Next I need to test for leakage, if all OK I can carry on to fettle the joints, I don’t use files or abrasive paper to do this I only use a scalpel to remove any excess solder it’s so easy and better results are achieved.
This also applies to cleaning up the white metal fittings; the main posts need to have a better base with some sort of fastening arrangement made, so an aluminium piece is machined up with three holes for fastening to the roof, this was then epoxied to the main post.
The next job is to make the handles, for this I used some 3mm plate which I cut some slices off with a slitting saw. In its raw state it is hard and needs annealing before bending.
The pieces were all cut to length and then drilled in a jig to ensure all the pieces were exactly the same, I can now leave a drill in both the end holes which keeps the pieces together while they are placed in the machine vice with a piece of round bar at the back to give a nice radius.
The handles need a cross bar with “knobs on” so a little bit of machining and then the assembly can be done.
The handles are soft soldered in place at the correct distance; I now need to drill and tap 10 BA the main body pipes to hold the handles in place. When these are assembled they will be put together with some epoxy on the screws and between the faces.
Whilst using the epoxy I can glue the white metal exit pipe in place, this now completes the assembly.
Next a coat of etch primer followed by a coat of grey primer then finally bright red, these will be left to fully dry before I attempt looking at the rotary system