Time passes really quickly lately for me. I am sure that those locked inside cannot say the same thing. I have, however, been suffering from a serious lack of motivation similar to that of Martin. I try to fight it but just sitting on my backside seems to win too often.
I have decided to try to break away from this and get on. I have been doing a little modelling and this is the progress, or lack of, over the past four months.
I have been concentrating on the cabin and making up all of the fittings. The radar is made up of several flat discs glued together and then formed using files and sand paper. I then had to drill several holes through the cabin roof, two of which had to be 12mm diameter. This would rip the thin plastic to pieces so a plan was required. I decided to buy a tapered hand reamer, tapered from 6mm to 16mm. I drilled the holes as large as I dare, about 8mm, and then slowly opened them up to 11.5mm. Then I found that once again I was suffering for not having read through the instructions beforehand. As the plastic is so thin walled and the parts attaching through the holes were so large, I should have glued some supporting wood to the inside roof of the cabin and drilled the holes through these also. I quickly made some support blocks from 12mm ply and struggled for ages to glue them to the ceiling above the servo plate already fitted earlier. I MUST learn to read the instructions first.
I then decided to glue the foredeck down which meant I had to fit the angled brass anchor guide tubes. I thought this would be difficult, as I had already painted the deck, and it was. I now know why the painting is done after assembly. I have always feared the masking. Well I did damage the paint during the filing of the ends of the tubes to match the deck and the hull. I accepted the fact that a full repaint was required and also decided to change the colour below the waterline to black. The masking is shown in the pictures but I found the Tamiya masking tape invaluable. I followed the contours of the deck to gunwale using 5mm wide tape which you can follow the curves with relatively easily. Once that line was done I increased the tape to 12mm wide and carried on with this until a good footing for cellotape was achieved. I then stuck down a covering of A4 paper cut to shape to cover the rest. This was not as bad as I thought it would be so I have learned a valuable lesson. Assemble the main parts and then paint, very much in line with all of the modelers who have been doing it for years.
I plan to improve my state of mind now and get on. I will concentrate on finishing the cabin so that I can finally paint it. I want to finish the main build by Christmas. No hope really!!
Peter.

As one of our fellow members was experiencing a little difficulty in sorting out the electrical connections for the multiple channels required to run the Dusseldorf, I thought it was time that I should make a start myself. Usually I will wire everything up and fit the RC connections at the end. This is a model with an extreme quantity of functioning gadgets so I decided that I should make a start.
I was always going to use my Taranis X9D Plus transmitter but was not sure whether to use two X8R receivers or one receiver and the s-bus connection. I purchased all of the gear for both methods as I knew that I would use the spare parts on a later project.
Last evening, and after reading the other members difficulties with decoders, I decided to go the s-bus route. I wired up the decoders to a channel changer and found it to be relatively easy to use. I have two four channel s-bus decoders which will be wired together with a

Y

cable which in turn is plugged into the receiver s-bus port. The two decoders will be channels nine to twelve and thirteen to sixteen. Channels one to eight will be via the X8R.
My next challenge is to figure out how to assign all of the switches and devices to the correct channels and more importantly, how to do it. The instructions supplied with the Taranis are next to useless. Fortunately, the Taranis has enough switches etc to cover for all sixteen channels, if you use the trainer switch.

I have made a start on painting the small items prior to fitting. I have decided, as usual, to use some of my own colour ideas. I find the Dusseldorf too

red

so I have changed a few things. I have used mainly Tamiya TS spray paints on top of Tamiya fine primer. The results are pleasing. For the silver I used a left over Humbrol spray can. The result is very disappointing as you can see in the photographs. I will leave them as they are as they are such small parts and I am sure will not be seen in the middle of the Danube.
Whilst preparing the fire hose connectors for painting, of which there are twelve, I thought that they looked bland without any detail. I decided to use a new design idea from the Vospers design department to improve their appearance. I turned up some small brass inserts to go into the centre hole and then inserted some old pin inserts into the centre to give some interest. This centre pin will also be used to position and fix them in place. They do not look too bad but the horrible paint finish does spoil them a little. I might be forced to revisit them before final fitting.

I have finally found some time to get on with some modelling. My house is now in turmoil whilst we pack everything getting ready for the big move to Hungary.
My main task ahead is to prepare the cabin for painting.
This can only be carried out successfully, in my mind anyway, if all of the holes needed to fit all of the additional parts, especially the railings, have been drilled.
The centre monitor grating has tabs all around to hold the semi-circular rail posts. These posts then continue and are drilled through the cabin roof.
To do this, I fitted the grating in place and aligned it as accurately as I could. I then used my milling machine and carefully drilled all of the holes right through. This worked very well.
To make these curved rails, I bent the 1.5mm brass rod around a 65mm diameter spray can.
The result was almost spot on for the 125mm diameter required. I then straightened the ends in line with the plan.
The post tubes were cut to around 65mm and the burrs cleaned away.
The posts and railings were then fitted together and fixed with 1mm split pins with the legs of the pins going inside of the tubes. I then set the post height with two blocks of wood at the correct height.
I then place crocodile clips onto the tubes to act as heat sinks whilst I soldered all of the joints.
I have used a very similar process to produce all of the other cabin railings. The rear monitor has a small railing which is also curved. I made this in a similar way using the plan as a guide for the positions of the bends.
This did cause a little problem though. How to drill the post positions accurately in the cabin roof.
I decided to trace around the shape of this bent railing and then place it accurately on the roof. I marked the post positions onto the paper and transferred these marks onto the roof and drilled. They worked out quite well.
I marked out all of the remaining fixing holes from the plan using the height gauge I made for the Gato build and drilled these also. I use the clips as heat sinks on all of the joints so as not to melt the plastic around the posts. I have some joints to solder which are only 5mm from the hole in the cabin. I will have to come up with a plan B for these, my next job.

Before I left for Hungary, I did manage to find a little time to work on Dusseldorf. I decided to take a break from railings and start on the small rowing boat.
The first thing to do was to cut and file the top edge of the forming to the correct height. This proved to be quite a task as I do not have the confidence to cut too close and end up with a lot of filing. I was very happy with the finished item. Next was to add a keel made from scrap material. Once again, I did not cut too close. I first formed the hull shape on the inside edge of the piece by careful filing. I placed the assembly to the light until I was happy with the fit and glued into place. Then, once again by filing, I profiled the bottom edge.
The next task was the oars. These were made using pre-formed plastic parts for the blades and two pieces of 2mm wood rod for the shafts. The last few millimetres were filed to half of the diameter. The blades were then glued on and the whole assembly tidied up.
The duck boards were next. I had treated all of the wood strips earlier with stain. I cut all of the necessary parts to length and carefully glued them together using a scrap piece of plastic as a template for the gap between planks. For the foot board inside of the rowing boat, additional forming was required. The files came out again. The plans were not good for scale here and I found that one fewer plank was required than that drawn.
My next session will be in Hungary. I have no idea when. (I do really as I did a little today). First time I have found time here to do anything. I ran out of time to post this before I left.

Just a small update as I have very little time for modelling at the moment.
I have been thinking for some time how I can drill 10off 2mm diameter holes for the deck hose connectors and valve hand wheels and have them look uniform. The instructions show them just glues into the moulding (so I am told of course). I decided some time ago to add 2mm dowels into the back face and glue from the rear. I decided to make a small jig to help with positioning from 3mm plasticard.
I started by roughly cutting out a general shape of the bottom of the moulding. I then carefully shaped it with a file until it had a snug fit. I transferred the piece onto the other side of the cabin and it fitted there also. I then carefully worked out positions and scribed the Plasticard with the centres and drilled the ten holes. I then placed the jig into the recess and carefully transferred the holes through. I repeated this on the other side. I am pleased with the results. I think the valves, reported on an earlier post, and the hand wheels should look good.
Next, I plan to try to paint the inside face of all of the windows to give a smoked glass effect. I hope this will hide all of the mechanisms necessary for the functions.

I have finally found time to do some modelling. I have been quite busy on models this week as I have almost finished the Police Launch, update to come soon, and now concentrating on Dusseldorf.
I cannot remember if I mentioned that I did find the time earlier to spray paint the inside of the cabin with Tamiya TS Smoke. This is an attempt to hide the incredible amount of motors wires and servos inside to achieve all of the functions. I can now confirm that I have achieved the 16 channel operation I have been seeking for a long time. I will explain in the next update which hopefully will be very soon.
Two things I have done however, is to complete the curved railing at the front of the cabin and redesigned the way in which the servo tray is held inside the cabin. The front rail I made some time ago but as the fixings all run as a radial arc and are all soldered, I was concerned about melting the plastic during soldering as they had to be done in situ. Over the past year I have been worrying about this and decided to just go for it. I assembled all of the joints and placed them onto the model. I then used crocodile clips at the front and rear to act as a heat sink. The one at the front was interfering with the joint area and would also have been soldered. This might not look too attractive with five crocodile clips permanently fixed to the railing so I ground one down to half size. The joints were made easily. What on earth was I concerned about. The last part of this job was to trim and join the side railings. I decided to solder the joiners only to the side railings so that I can remove the assembly easily should anything go wrong.
The second thing I have done is to enable the servo tray to be removed at any time. The instructions said to glue the tray in place which I did. The problem with this is that it is extremely difficult to get at the monitor fixing bolts after fixing. They can be removed, just, but with my hands, impossible to fix back on. I decided to break the tray out again and fix with nuts and bolts. I added some additional wood blocks to the frame that the tray sits on. These were first glued in place and then I added screws for good measure. I then assembled the two monitors onto the cabin roof and fitted the plate to ensure that the monitor rotational bearings were in perfect alignment. I drilled the four fixing holes at 4.1mm diameter and then added two additional holes at 4.00mm diameter to allow me to dowel it in place for accurate alignment. I added the screws and the two dowels, which are 4mm diameter brass tube. They work perfectly. Now I can remove the servo plate easily.
I am trying hard to prepare the cabin for painting before the cold weather settles in here. I have a window of about two more weeks. I used a rainy day to make all of the remaining hatch cover and door handles.
Thanks for reading this and if you are still awake, well done.
Peter.😊

My updates are like busses. You wait (maybe) for one and then two come along at once.
I have attached a demonstration video show how I have finally managed to operate 16 channels using my FrSky Taranis X9D Plus transmitter. I have added a couple of pictures showing the Tx setup and the demonstration setup. I hope it comes out ok.
Peter.😀

The summer has now finished and Autumn well underway. The weather here, although cold at night, is still mainly really pleasant. It is around 12 to 16 degrees during the day with a lot of sunshine. We have had about 8 days of rain since 1st May. I have now stopped all house and garden projects until the spring which will allow me a lot of modelling time. Don`t tell the wife I said that or I am sure a long list of inhouse jobs would arrive.
I have spent quite a lot of my time on Dusseldorf. I have delayed the painting of the cabin until I was sure that all of the required holes had been drilled. This completed and checked 100 times, I started by priming with Tamiya fine primer. I then completed the spraying with three coats of Tamiya TS Red lacquer paint and two coats of clear. The finish looks ok but not to the standard of some I see here. I am happy though. After painting, I removed all of the window masks as soon as possible. Unfortunately, due to them having been in place for 18 months, they were hard to remove. A minor amount of paint chipping has resulted but I am sure I can tidy this up.
The next job was to complete the railings. There are a lot on this boat, some of which are quite tricky to bend. I decided to concentrate on a pair at a time to avoid confusion. I found that the more railings I make, the better they turn out, particularly when the soldering is concerned. We all know the secret to good joints is cleanliness. Well, there is a second. Not too much solder. Took me ages to learn this one resulting in a lot of filing and polishing later. The railings I did later were much better with a lot less after work. Some of the bends required are quite large radii so I looked around and tried different items to use as a jig. Well, imagine my delight when I found the beer bottle to be perfect. I tried to convince the wife that I needed one empty bottle per bend plus some for testing. This approach failed. I then primed and painted all of the railings white.
My attention has now turned to the massive task of wiring. I started by wiring the two motors to the ESC and connecting the rudders to their servo. Two channels down, 14 to go. I want to use two large capacity 3s LiPo batteries for this boat, one to run the motors and the other to run the remaining items. This gave me a small problem. The water pump will need to run near to its maximum voltage which is 12 volts but the remaining items require only six volts. I asked for advice on this site and within minutes, some very kind members gave me the answer. A pre-manufactured voltage regulator circuit. As my friends said, they are inexpensive. They were right. I managed to get them, with a voltage digital readout, for less than £4 each.
I will now be sitting down and producing a wiring diagram. This, I hope, will avoid a birds nest of wires which would be very easy with all of the activities going on as here. I will publish the diagram on here so that if any kind soul has a minute, could double check it.
This could take a while!!
Peter.😊

I started by looking for a new circuit diagram on the net for an adjustable flasher. I found two candidates but both were not quite right. I decided to use information from both which was closest to the diagram I have used before when using a potentiometer for the adjustment.
I built the circuit on a breadboard but used a 200k variable resistor instead of the 100k suggested as I didn’t have one. I thought the only change would be the frequency range on the finished item. The test was good and I could get exactly what I was looking for as a flash rate.
Next I soldered all of the components to the prototype strip board. I only had boards with longitudinal strips and not across the width. Not a major problem except for the fact I had to use more wire jumpers than usual.
On test, the flash rate was disappointing. I looked for a problem and found that the joint for one resistor could be better. I resoldered and tested again. The result was much better but not any where near as good as the breadboard mock up. I checked the circuit and could not find any issues. I decided to leave it and have another examination in the morning.
In the morning, I connected up the battery and it ran perfectly. I have no idea why it was not good the night before. The only explanation I have is that it was repaired by the fairies.
Peter.