I've never bought anything from Deans Marine in the past so I have no personal experience but I'm rather disinclined to buy anything from them in the future based on what I have been reading about other peoples experiences!
Robbob.

Doug
Thanks for the review😊😊
Not suprised! Deans have a bad customer attitude for years.
Everything is pot metal which can crumble
Hulls OK but forget the rest even their plans/ Instructions are a mess. I pity any beginner buying one it will put him off Model Boat Building for life!

JADIES AND LENTLEMEN. HEAR YE HEAR YE!
Pray gather round and hear the latest episode of the Great Deans Fittings Saga!
Herewith the promised (threatened🙄) report on the fittings, especially the running gear, of my Deans HMS Manxman kit. First the Deans blurb-
"Propshafts in stainless steel are cased in brass proptubes with fitted oilers and replaceable bearings along with rudder and tiller arm."
Props aren't mentioned, they didn't dare!
First two pics show why. Crudely cast, in what I choose to call 'muck metal'.
Even if you took the trouble to fettle them up and balance them, the blade shape is all wrong and if you tried to bend / hammer them into a decent pitch they'd most likely snap. Heating wouldn't help either, they'd melt😭 Sooo
Pair (left and right hand) Raboesch type 156 30mm on order. Cost; circa €36.
https://raboeschmodels.com/product/156-3-blade-metric/
The rudder and tiller arm-
Both also made of muck metal. Rudder is embossed with what looks like a flattened cat! Reminiscent of the Irfan view graphics SW logo. It's probably usable fettled up, slimmed down and polished.
At least the shape is right and the stock at the right angle according to my Abdiel class plans, which incidentally are much better than the Deans plan, but it's HEAVY at 50gm. Stock is 2.35mm steel which is OK would have preferred 3mm though.
The tiller arm (pic 5) is weird and would need a bit of work! The indent for drilling out for the stock is 3mm not 2.35 and a miniature PK screw is supplied as fastener!!!
I will replace that with a home brew from brass plate and a split collet to clamp it to the stock good and hard.
Patterned on the plastic version I used on my Sea Scout. Or I could use my mini mill to machine indents in the stock for a grub screw. Tending more towards the clamp though.
Stock tube is rough cut brass tube. I will add a flange to the lower end as a seat for the washer I always put between the rudder and the hull.
Now to the real villains! The shafts and tubes!! Where to start!🤔
OK - the shaft, now I know where the expression 'You've been shafted' comes from😠
Advertised as stainless steel they look more like ordinary carbon steel to me. Maybe there was a nickel shortage? First inspection under a spot lamp indicated that at least one was either bent at the end or the thread was not concentric. Testing on a glass plate confirmed this. A guarantee for 'shake rattle and roll'😠 Junk.
The toobs-
Shaft is 4mm Ø, running tube is 6mm Ø. Leaving 0.5mm for the 'replaceable bearings'. These turn out to be short roughly cut lengths of 5mm tube. The outer tube has been 'crimped' using a centre punch to stop the 'bearings' vanishing into the interior. Crude to say the least.
Bear in mind that these ships were capable of 40+ knots so I don't want it tootling around like a Clyde Puffer.
My Manxman will be fitted with a pair of Trackstar 550 21 turn motors, half a kilo of brute power😁, running on 3S batteries. With these shafts and props it'd probably shake the stern off. At best it would sound like Steptoe's cart on a cobbled street🤔
The finishing of these parts is appalling. The so called bearings are not de-burred, or even cut square! Literally hacked off with a junior hacksaw by the look of them.
(PS Even I possess a mini electric side cutter (a few dollars from China - where else?🙄) which guarantees a clean square cut in seconds!)
The outer toobs look to have been de-burred with a countersink bit, leaving a sharp outer edge which is guaranteed to chew through the plastic end washers supplied☹️
Conclusion: chuck the Deans toobs and shafts into the bits box for use on non-critical odds and ends and make my own from stock silver steel and an 8 or 10mm brass tube fitted with sintered phosphor-bronze bearings.
I will fit stainless steel thrust washers at both ends as usual, with a locking collet at the inboard end and adjust for max 10thou play.
Could at least use bits of the Deans junk to make oilers for the the new toobs😁
The rest of the fittings are not toooo bad, just needing mucho fettling up, flash removal etc. The 'modeller' has to have something to do - otherwise just wait for Trumpeter or Tamiya to produce kits at a reasonable large scale😉
Summary: If I'd known all this beforehand I would have just bought the hull, which is superb, and used my plans (better than Deans😉) and Shapeways for the rest.
Two positives😉:
1 The hull is excellent, well detailed and not flimsy like the vac-formed stuff. Once the transverse beams are in it should be no problem at all.
2 An excellent etched brass fret is included, although I strongly suspect that they may be 'bought in' possibly Eduard? This greatly simplifies building the massive mine/cargo handling cranes these ships carried. The fret also provides a considerable source of 0.5mm brass strip for all sorts of odds and ends. I often use this for replacing over-scale thick splinter shields and the like on plastic kits.😊

Gripe over😉 Will I buy another complete (🙄) kit from Deans? NO! Maybe a hull though - IF I can't get what I want from Fleetscale!
Cheers All, Stay safe and enjoy whatever it is you're fiddling with during Lockdown👍
Doug 😎
Sorry for blogging up your clog Nerys😔😁

Hi Nerys,

After you have made this boat and write a review I bet the review suddenly vanishes from the net.
And by the time you remake most of the boat using proper materials you would have been better off working to your plan 'A'; build from scratch.

Martin555.

Martin,
I made up the servo box last night, looked at it when it was finished and decided it is not fit for purpose and will replace it with a nice wooden one. I suspect that this only the first of many things that I replace in good old wood.

Cheers, Nerys

I bought a four motor upgrade for my HMS Hood kit (yet to be made) from Deans. Four prop shafts and stuffing boxes were included. Three of the four shafts were bent. I talked to Deans but really did not get a good response. I cut my losses and paid more money for replacement units made by Raboesch. These were perfect. If anybody wants to build a boat that will rattle itself to pieces mid lake, I can supply the cheap Deans prop shafts.😁

Nerys,
So far the kit review is not sounding very good.

You would think for the price we pay for these kits the manufacturers would at least use some decent materials.

Martin555.

I agree Ian, but that's what supplied and where they are situated right on the turn of the bilge, I think it would be very difficult to fit a bigger one. I have some larger and they certainly look as if they could cause problems. If you think the rudders seem light, you should see the original props ( already replaced).

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Nerys
2mm seems a bit light

Good on ya Pete 👍
Ya know, I'd really really like to know what these mysterious 'tiller arms' look like.
Reading all this about Deans fittings is prompting me to dig out my Manxman kit and check it out again!!
Report later.
Cheers, Doug 😎

No problem Nerys, If you need them, just ask and they will be in the post.

Cheers, Pete

Thank you Pete for your offer to send me some tiller arms. The rudder stocks are only two mill, so I ordered the bits that Deans say they would supply if they weren't more interested in ripping everybody off and I'm expecting them in a day or two. If they are useless, I'll,come back to you and take you up on your kind offer.

Cheers, Nerys

I might just do that Rob!

Nerys

Hi Pete, yes it's those rubbishy white metal tiller arms that's causing the anguish. If you can give me some advice I'd be very grateful.

Cheers, Nerys

When you mention the 'coupling things' Nerys, do you mean the coupling from the motor to the propshaft, if so, then you'll find that no kit producer puts those in, cause were funny about our couplings, if it's the tiller arms, all my kits from Deans have had the tiller arms in white metal, absolutely rubbish, you really need to upgrade that part, if you're having trouble getting them, PM me.

Cheers, Pete😊

Hi Nerys.
I looked at the Deans site earlier and within the description of the kit it states 'A complete set of fittings are included in the kit with all detail parts such as weapons, deck fittings, etc, cast in light alloy and resin" which seems not to be the case!

Also, you are invited to 'write a review of the kit' so perhaps if you feel inclined you could vent your disappointment in an honest and frank review!!
Rob.

Dear Nerys.
Yet again Deans rip off the customer as they do on a daily basis.
For you to have to purchase a replacement part that is supplied is appalling to say the least.
So looking forward to your blog despite your frustrations.
Take care and stay safe.
Regards Bill.

Hi Colin and Rob, many thanks for your kind offers, but we ordered the bits Deans should include in the kit, despite the cost. Hopefully we'll get them in a day or two, then get on with the rest of the steering.

Cheers, Nerys

Nerys post pictures or sketches of what you want, if I can't make what you need I'm sure somebody can.
Caroline and I are going to visit our grandchildren tomorrow, so out of modelling mode till Sunday.
Cheers Colin.

Hi Nerys.
Could you post a couple of 'photos to illustrate the problem, perhaps we could collectively suggest an alternative to the Deans parts?
Rob

No Martin, they would have been too complicated for us to make and we couldn't find anything similar from other suppliers. They are going to do the job, but considering the initial cost of the kit, to not supply something essential is beyond the pale. I was reluctant to deal with Deans in the first place and should have gone for the scratch build I seriously considered. Mistakenly I thought the kit would be easier in my present state of health. As it is, the frustration level is making me wish I'd never seen it.

Cheers, Nerys

Nerys,
Can you and Alice make a set of rudder tiller arms.?

I hate it when companies deliberately supply you with shoddy good and then suggest you purchase better fitting from them.
Anything to rip off more money out of you.
I agree with you Nerys another money grabber.

Martin555.

Had a look at the steering arrangement last night, decided that the tiller arms supplied were useless. Looked at the instructions and realised that one has to buy from Deans a pair of his own coupling things, thereby invoking an order boosted by 'the service charge' and ridiculously high postage charge. Whole set up is designed to boost his money grabbing attitude towards the modelling world.

Nerys

Nerys I'm glad you feel well enough to give an update on the build.I'm sure after seeing the motors and rudder in place you will decide the next move and whether to change anything.
Rick

Thank you Colin and Martin, Hopefully I'll do a little more this evening, but tomorrow is another dialysis day and that invariably makes me feel rotten for a nearly a whole day. I'll think about a build blog when I reach the photo stage, at the moment, I feel as if I am only nibbling round the edges.

Cheers, Nerys

Hi Nerys,
It sounds like you have made a good start on 368.
Maybe you should copy this and paste it into a build blog.

We all hope that you remain fit and well enough to continue
The build and update a build log.

Martin555.



Martin555.

Well done Nerys, I'm glad you are doing your LST, hope that the dialysis gets sorted soon.
Cheers Colin.