This process was quite an involved process and for any reader to get any value out of this page I thought would present it in a different way, as an ex -engineer I am used to writing and using operations sheets.
So here’s the deck grips OP sheet
Notes “P” = Port “S” = Starboard
M/T = masking tape

Op No's Operation Descriptions Tools and Materials

1 Fit deck beading on “P”&”S” for the length of cabin
Tools/Materials glue, , 0.45 drill 3 x 3mm Walnut bead, 0.5 brass pins
2 Lay M/T along deck “P”&”S”
Tools/Materials 25mm M/T tape
3 On “P” Lay a thin strip of M/T (sticky side up)
Tools/Materials 10mm M/T tape
4 On “P” Mark all 20 out positions of bars using gauge
Tools/Materials pencil, gauge
5 On “S” mark 1st position then Transfer 10mm M/T and line up with the 1st bar
6 Using the gauge inverted mark on the remaining 19 bar lines, this gives identical markings
Tools/Materials gauge
7 On “P” Lay a 3x3 timber down each side to determine the width of bars
Tools/Materials 3 x 3mm Walnut/tape
8 For “P” sand angle on one end of bar – mark length and cut & angle the other end Tools/Materials saw, sander
9 Take each bar and using jig, drill 0.45mm hole in both ends of the bar – repeat on other 19 Tools/Materials drilling m/c drill jig, 0.45mm brill bit
10 Using pin jig, on the inside only tap in 0.5mm brass pin to depth on all 20 bars
Tools/Materials Pin hammer, jig
11 Using the drill gauge line up and drill the inside hole in the deck on all 20 positions
Tools/Materials drill gauge 0.45 drill, hand drill
12 Take the first bar & place the pin in the drilled hole and tap in place, not too deep, align the bar using jig and drill the second hole, insert pin and tap just to hold in position
Tools/Materials Pin hammer, jig, 0.45 drill, hand drill
13 Repeat operation 12 on all 20 bars
Tools/Materials Pin hammer, jig, 0.45 drill, hand drill
14 Repeat ops 7 – 12 on “S”
15 Pull each bar out (with pins)and push onto a piece of balsa next to each other lined up at the angle
Tools/Materials Balsa strip, angle gauge
16 Now clamp in the vice and file a radius on the inside ends of each bar
Tools/Materials Bench vice, smooth file
17 Reverse the bars and repeat operation 16
18 Place all bars “S” & “P” on a piece of balsa and spray 2 coats of satin varnish
19 Carry out adhesion test, wood glue – V – epoxy
Tools/Materials wood glue, epoxy
20 Using “pin length jig” cut all the pins to length – 5mm protruding
Tools/Materials Jig, side cutters
21 Using wood glue coat the bottom of each bar & tap into the pre drilled holes and tap fully home, wipe away any excess glue
Tools/Materials Wood glue, pin hammer, wet cloth
22 Finally cut the last piece according to original boat layout and drill, pin and glue into position

Unfortunately the site doesn't support a table format so the layout isn't as I wanted

Here's just a few more pictures to help with the understanding of the process, they show the little jig that was used to tap the pins in to length before the head is cut off and the grouping of the pieces to put a radius on each end.

Another job that’s been hanging around for some time and that’s painting the outside and inside of the cabin, as its removable it makes it a little easier to do. So first check is to make sure all the walnut wood adornments are in place or that the fixing holes are present since I don’t want to be drilling holes in new paintwork, so all ready for paint, The masking is a time consuming process and has to be done with care. The paint job will as all the rest 2/3 coats grey primer, I use commercial cellulose which I thin myself as it’s so much cheaper than rattle tins. This is rubbed down between coats ready for the final coats of appliance white, I leave it to dry but not too long as the sooner you remove the masking the better, leaving it too long can cause the tape to pull at the paint and tear the edges.
All that remains is to put on the navigation lights, hand rails, search lights and wire them all into the circuit board, these items were completed some time ago.

The main battery is located at the front of the “BOX” area and contains a main switch for the power, the design of this area was originally by Rob who came up with the idea of having the main power switch operated by the steering wheel so hiding the switch operation. I also wanted to have a “Dash Board” to simulate the real boat and for it to have a couple of Leds as well as the illuminated dials so this needs to be mounted around the steering wheel and to move up and down as the “switch” is moved on and off. The dash board is made of aluminium and shaped as the original with four dials and three lights with a central hole where the switch/steering wheel fits.
I decided to build the wooden frame for the box using magnets to hold it in position and then to fill in the body area with some 2.5mm walnut sheet which was surrounded with 5x5mm walnut strips to form the whole cover. The magnets are an important part of this construction and as such the placement of them has to be accurate, so to achieve this they are drilled in pairs and the magnets glued into the wood in pairs.
I cut an initial slot to try the switch operation and placed the dash board in place this gives me an indication as to how far the aluminium dash has to move up and down. The next issue is how to make the dash to move up and down without it tipping sideways and also allowing the wires for the Leds to move freely underneath.
I used some 2.5mm sq tube with a 1.5mm sq tube running inside as a runner the larger tube is fastened to the cover with some 8BA nuts soldered to its side and then bolted through the top which has had wood hardener applied to strengthen the area. The central smaller rails are fastened to the aluminium dash with two 10BA screws; this allows the aluminium dash to slide freely up and down, I now need to put additional holes/slots to allow the wires to run freely through the wooden top.
The wires need to be connected to the 6v supply which is located in the central motor housing so a connector is required to allow the dash housing to be removed when required and any Led to be changed if they fail. The illumination of the dials is yet another hurdle which I not sure can be jumped and it may be that the illumination has to be from above as there just isn’t enough room between the aluminium dash and the wooden top.
PS not sure why it duplicarted all the pics but Ive deleted them

The rear seat is almost the same construction as the battery cover at the bow albeit square with no angled top, the space for equipment at the rear is quite tight and to make it look like a seat things will have to be compact. We have the ESC and receiver along with all the wires from the cabin and the motor, also the water cooling system all to be contained under the seat.
Again the frame is made from 5mm x 5mm walnut and the magnets are inserted in pairs into the wood to make sure the polarity is correct. I can then make up the frame to cover all the items and glue/pin it together. When the frame is set I can cut pieces if 1.5mm thick walnut sheet and edge it in 5 x 5mm walnut then glue it to the frame. Finally both the front battery cover and the seat will get a couple of coats of satin lacquer.

This part of the build is a delicate one, First the water line has been applied and I must ensure that it is firmly stuck without any tiny edges coming loose especially where the line crosses the chine and around the bow and two corners on the stern. Having made sure all is stuck, then the hull gets three coats of satin lacquer.

Brass capping
One of the things evident on the real craft is the brass capping on the rear cabin supports, I’m not sure of its purpose other than it could be an area of wear as officers bend to enter the cabin, however I’m not questioning its purpose but wanting to make my model as near the original as possible so I cut some strips of brass sheet 1mm thick x 5.5mm wide, I do this using a fine toothed slitting saw in the milling machine cutting a strip of any width I want and leaving a “ buckle free” strip unlike you get using tin snips. I then make a pencil trace of the shape and use this to bend the brass strip to shape. It now requires some 0.5 mm holes to allow me to pin the strips to the wood, adding some epoxy resin to make a tight fitting rail.
Spray rail
Next is the spray rail on the roof, this looks a simple enough item but it requires to be bent in 3 plains (roof curve, sweepback, and lean back) so I decided to laminate the piece on a jig with the same forms as the roof. It made fitting to the roofs shape much easier with minimal trimming. I held the rail on using 0.5 mm pins these were drilling into the underside of the rail and glued in place, leaving about 3mm proud to go through the cabin roof. Marking the position of the pins on the roof is easily done by placing a piece of masking tape on a piece of expanded polystyrene and then just pushing into the tape and polystyrene this leaves holes in the tape which can now be transferred to the cabin roof in the correct position the marked holes can then be drilled through in the exact position. I use some canopy adhesive on the underside of the rail to secure it in position.
Window frames
The manufacture of the window frames was detailed earlier and all that is required now is to secure them in position. I use a 2mm wide extra strong double sided tape which I found to be capable of securing aluminium sheet whilst machining! (The dash board). This tape was placed along the back face of all the frames and then each frame was positioned and pressed firmly home, the tape reaches its maximum strength after 12 hours and believe me it’s really difficult to remove when fully cured.
Hand rails
These again were detailed earlier and only needed to be glued in place and as with the spray rails I used the tape transfer method to position the holes and a small amount of canopy adhesive on each leg then pushed home.
Kent clearview
This little detail was made from black Perspex, I machined an outer ring and centre stud and then a small triangular piece extending to the centre stud was hand fashioned then all tree pieces were stuck to the front window with canopy glue.
Life ring and horns
Both these details had been previously made and trial fitted so it was a simple attachment job using the 8BA studs in the bases.
Search light
This item has already been tested so all that’s required is to bolt it in position and feed the wires through into the cabin; I made provision for the electrical connection so a plug is crimped on the wires and plugged into the distribution board.

The last post detailing the dash board highlighted the issue of illuminating the dials, Doug suggested using SMD LED option and I had ordered some (10pcs T0402WM Pre-soldered Micro Litz Wired Leads Warm White SMD Led 0402 UK) I was to say the least surprised how small these were and it made the mounting a challenge. Since the dash board sits above the wooden top any Led lighting underneath would let stray light escape at the sides; so I needed to make something that would contain the light in each dial. A simple aluminium ring around each dial would (should) work I machined up 4 small rings and 1 large, next I needed a method of mounting the Led in the centre of each ring. I drilled a 0.8mm hole in the side of each ring then pushed the Led into the centre position and used cyno in the hole to hold it in position. Each of the rings were then epoxied into position on the rear of the panel and the wires gently formed to follow the other Led wires. When all this was set I attempted to reassemble the panel to the guide rails whilst feeding the wires through the back, all went OK and all the Leds worked however with the additional wires behind the panel it made the sliding action rather stiff because the additional wire were rubbing, despite a number of attempts to ease the problem it still is rather stiff. The illumination of the dials was to be using a paper encapsulated overlay with an LED behind each; at this stage the overlay is temporary and isn’t secured to the baking so the dials aren’t defined very well.
I have decided that I’m not satisfied with this method of illuminating the dials so back to the drawing board.

Some would say “have you nothing better to do” but I enjoy my modelling what else can I say.
The new panel is made from a new aluminium front and then a black Perspex back, the reason is that in the original design the slide rails were fastened to the front plate making electrical contact with each other, so the Perspex backing plate will allow me to mount the slide rails in the Perspex so that they are electrically insulated.
I have used the square tubing again having the larger tube glued in the top holes, this piece also has two contacts silver soldered to each one, silver soldered because I will be soft soldering all the led wires to this piece.
The Leds are also an issue because of the different voltages required for the Red 1.8v, Green 3.2v, Blue 3.2 and white3.2, there isn’t a voltage that will correctly illuminate all Leds, you may think use resisters , but the whole idea of this unit is that its self-contained and there isn’t really enough room for a resister. The other consideration having tried loads of resisters to get the correct illumination taking the voltage tolerances into account was proving difficult.
Solution – I will cut the back off the red, green and blue Leds and glue them into the holes, then they will be lit by the same Led type as all the dial openings meaning I only need the overall power supply to be correct for one type of Led which is 1206 Pre-soldered Micro Litz Warm White.
The Leds are very delicate so the method of fastening in position will have to be cyno or canopy glue (test required) and then the wires need trimming to length and the insulation stripping which is to say the least a challenge, with the wires been so small I’ve trialled stripping with a my wire strippers and managed to set them to strip rather than cut although it’s not an exact science. More to come about the wiring later.

Work has been slow recently I've been working on those bits that seem to take an age to finish plus I've been working on a new test tank (pics to come when finished) plus repairing RC cars for my grandson who seems to be able to hit the only post in the middle of a field.

So the new securing device now has two independent rails POS + & NEG-- and each is fastened through the top panel using 10 BA nuts on the back these then have tags which go to a socket.

The led backs have been removed and a 1206 pre-soldered Micro Litz Warm White LED is stuck in place using a dad of cyno, the positive and negative leads are then soldered to the rail tags. Next job is to secure the leds that will illuminate the five dials; these are positioned and secured with a piece of tape whilst the dab of canopy glue sets.
Again the leads are soldered to the appropriate electrical tag.

The next challenge was to remodel the dials which are to be printed on photographic paper to eliminate any grain in the paper the overlay is then encapsulated in a matt plastic heat applied pouch. Next the profile is cut out and the holes punched for the leds and the steering wheel shaft. The now finished paper overlay is now put through a thermal encapsulation unit (laminator)using a matt finish cover, I now have to cut out the profile and using some double sided tape I attach the overlay to the aluminium unit. Next test it works.
Yes it does, the holes are in the right places and the outer profile lines up correctly I have made a few copies of this as there is potential for damage as it is been pushed back and forth with the steering wheel switch and could get wet!
The photo of the finished dials isn’t very good but in reality it looks perfect and I think overall the work that I’ve put into this little item has been worth it.