SEASONS GREETINGS TO ALL OUR READERS WORLDWIDE
DECEMBER 2016
www.marinemodelmagazine.com
NUTS CANADIAN
LOGGING TUG BUILD
Issue 357 £4.75•
DRAKKAR
HISTORY AND MODELS OF THE VIKING LONGBOAT p01_MMDEC16_Cover.indd 1
KIT REVIEW
MOTOR ANTI-SUBMARINE BOAT MASB 33
PILOT BOAT HAVANA’S M-410-P
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CONTENTS DECEMBER 2016 - ISSUE 357
Features
38 NUTS
The build of a detailed Canadian Logging Tug
44 DRAKKAR
The history and models available for a Viking Longboat
38
52 CRUISER DEVELOPMENTS P2
Cruisers from Japan, USA and Italy both in full size and as models
58 HAVANA PILOT BOAT
The build of a 1/16th scale model of an attractive Cuban Pilot Boat
66 MASB 33
Kit review of a new Deans Marine model
52
COVER STORY NUTS
This Canadian Logging model tug was originally planned by the builder to be 1/12th scale, but as no plans were readily available he built this ‘prototype’ at 1/24 scale from basic line diagrams and pictures so as not to waste any materials if all went pear shaped! The finish and details Allan Grafton made of this model are outstanding and it looks very good on the water. When Allan finishes the 1/12 scale version with many working items we will twist his arm for another article!
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Regulars
7 8
MESSAGE FROM THE ENGINE ROOM
The assistant editor introduces this month’s edition
MASTHEAD
News of interest to the maritime modeller
10 VINTAGE CHATTER
Kraft’s Fabulous ‘Gold Medal’
44
14 READERS MODELS
Models seen at the Furness Model Boat Club
16 POWERPLUG
Replacing modified metal propellers
20 PLASTIC KIT SCENE
New kits for the Christmas list!
22 MMI VISITS
A visit to MT Miniatures Ltd
24 WATERLINES
RN Hermes class aircraft carriers
26 SCALE SCENE
The Torpoint Chain Ferry
30 MEETING POINT
Reports of events held over the past few months
74 COMING NEXT MONTH
Some are the articles in the planning stage for Jan 2017 edition
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MESSAGE FROM THE ENGINE ROOM EDITORIAL CONTACT MMI generally publishes commissioned articles, but will consider other contributions including news items and factual articles. It is important that contact is made with the editor before any material is written, as duplication of items may result in articles being rejected. Prospective contributors can email or write for a copy of the MMI Notes for Contributors via Traplet Publications Ltd. Any other Editorial queries can be made by telephone to 01749 347172 during normal office hours.
HI EVERYONE,
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our readers. What a mixed year it has been with some great successes, some very sad happenings and some unexpected outcomes. On the bright side the Olympics gave a great lift and our hobby seems to have a new lease of life with many events reporting pleasing attendances. On the sad side the death of Chris Jackson, our previous editor and author of Sail Free, came as quite a shock to many. As for Brexit, enough has been said so we await the future with interest. As far as Cardiff Bay has been concerned, it has been an exciting year for events. The spectacle of the Extreme Sailing Series in June followed by the return of the P1 Powerboats in August for the Welsh Grand Prix of the Sea, gave plenty of excitement for residents and visitors. However, the event which intrigued me most was the arrival of a new floating dock for the Cardiff Bay Marina. Unfortunately the main dock section was too large to fit through the locks and so needed lifting over the barrage wall. This required the lifting power of the largest crane I have ever seen. Named a 1000 ton crane it had enormous counterweights and extended supports and was quite near its limit when fully extended pulling the 85 ton dock unit from the water. Two lifts took place; one from the channel onto the car park and then from the car park into the bay. There were only inches to spare as the dock was lowered between the pontoon and the lock gates to finally float in the bay. Unfortunately, it was too dark for photographs of the final lift but I have a picture of the dock in use.
PUBLISHED BY Traplet Publications Ltd, Willow End Park, Blackmore Park Rd Malvern WR13 6NN Tel: + 44 (0) 1684 588599 www.traplet.com EDITOR Barrie Stevens mmi@traplet.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Chris Saunders chris.saunders@traplet.com CONTRIBUTORS Israel Wilfredo (‘Wildy’) Diaz Gomez,
Allan Grafton, Kelvin Holmes, Allan Miller, Marcus Rooks, Robin Trott, Eric Bauthier, David Wiggins, Ian Williams, Rick Eyrich DESIGN AND PRODUCTION MANAGER Nick Powell MAGAZINE DESIGN AND LAYOUT James Scott ADVERTISING & TRADE SALES Angela Price Tel: +44 (0) 01684 588568 Email: angela.price@traplet.com ADVERTISING COPY Tel: +44 (0) 1684 588517 Email: adcopy@traplet.com SUBSCRIPTION MARKETING Tel: +44 (0)1684 588521 Email: marketing@traplet.com
In this month’s edition we have articles on building two 1/24 scale models. The first is a scratch built model of a Canadian Logging Tug ‘Nuts’, and the second a kit review of the Deans Marine model of MASB, a 63 ft Motor Anti-submarine Boat. There are also details on the construction of the Havana M-410-P Pilot Boat in 1/16 scale by ‘Wildy’ from Cuba. I am always impressed by the ingenuity our Cuban contributors show in resourcing materials for their model boat building. We have two informative, historical articles; Drakkar and Cruiser Development (Part 2). The former describes the Viking longboat, with some useful information for the model maker. The latter article completes the review of Cruiser Development by looking at ships from Japan, USA and Italy, and finally has a brief look at Battle Cruisers. Among the regular articles we have Vintage Chatter reminding us of the Kraft’s Fabulous ‘Gold Medal’, Waterlines reviewing the RN Hermes class aircraft carriers, Scale Scene giving the history of the Torpoint Ferries, and Plastic Kit Scene keeping us up to date with the most recent kits and equipment on the market.
Chris Saunders MMI
The new, floating dry dock at Cardiff Marina which would make an interesting model supporting a friend’s yacht
MANAGING DIRECTOR Tom Stephenson CHAIRMAN Tony Stephenson DISTRIBUTED BY Seymour Distribution Ltd NORTH AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION Traplet Distribution USA Ltd, 806 Parkland Ct, Champaign, IL 61821, USA Tel: 217 355 2970 Email: info@traplet.com AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTION Traplet Publications & Hobbies, P.O.BOX 501, Engadine, NSW 2233, Australia Tel: (02) 9520 0933 Email: sales@traplet.co.au SOUTH AFRICAN DISTRIBUTION Traplet Publications (PTY) Ltd, P.O.BOX 1067,
Oudtshoorn, 6620, South Africa Tel: +27 44 272 5978 Email: southafrica@traplet.com CUSTOMER SERVICES, SUBSCRIPTIONS & BACK ISSUES Tel: +44 (0) 1684 588599 Email: info@traplet.com www.thehobbyhub.com For latest Subscription offers please turn to page 10-11 All subscription offers are based on the cover price.
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This magazine is sold subject to the following conditions: that it shall not without written consent of the publishers be lent, resold or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in excess of the recommended maximum retail price. All rights strictly reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any way without the prior agreement of the publisher. All letters must be accompanied by the senders full name and address. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited correspondence nor some of the opinions expressed. All material and artwork originated by Traplet Publications Ltd., photographs, drawings, plans used in this magazine become the publishers copyright under Copyright law. Some photographs may have been digitally re-mastered. The Company reserves the right to suspend or refuse any advertisements without giving reasons. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes, Traplet Publications Ltd. cannot be liable in any way for errors or omissions. Nor can the Publisher accept any responsibility for the bona fides of advertisers. © Traplet Publications Limited 2016 ISSN 1746-8590
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GREAT BRITAIN
MUTTS TOWING – ‘NUTS’ ALLAN DESCRIBES HOW HE SCRATCH BUILT A 1/24 SCALE MODEL OF A CANADIAN LOGGING TUG HULLS, DECKS AND BULWARKS
AUTHOR: ALLAN GRAFTON
DRAWINGS
These don’t seem to be readily available but after trawling the internet and finding some pictures of other tugs, seen at the shows, I drafted out a set of drawings and figured out a set of frames for the hull. I wanted to build my tug at 1/12 scale but I thought I would prove the frames I had come up with at a smaller scale of 1/24, so that I didn’t waste too much material if I ended up with a shoebox.
After building up the frames on a building board and planking, it looked as if it was going to look OK. I showed the drawings and the hull to my friend Bob Fowler in Birmingham, who asked if I would finish making the hull into a plug for fibreglassing as he would like to build one at this size (no worries). After finishing the plug for the hull, Rob had a professional laminator take a mould of it, I usually do my own fibreglassing but with all the extra fenders running down the hull, I was keen for someone else to do it (it ended up a five piece mould). Once I had a fibreglass hull in front of me, I built up the bulwarks and deck so as to take another mould and this was duly given over to the laminator to do his bit. As my friend Rob wanted to build this tug at this scale and having had the hull etc. in front of me I thought I might as well build it, too.
The building board with the home-grown drawing in the background
Frames covered with balsa, painted with high build primer and sanded to get the hull smooth
C
anadian Logging Tugs are nice looking boats, a lot of people like them but the price of a semi-kit of around £600+ shipping from Canada, is a bit strong for most people, me included. What to do next? Make my own.
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DRIVE TRAIN
Cardboard tunnels to be glassed over for the oversized nozzles. The cardboard was removed after the work was completed
Rubbing stakes fitted to the hull; nearly ready to go off to the laminator
Interior mock-up with tunnels glazed in. Only two 6 V battery packs were used, wired in series to give 12 V
Plug for the deck/bulwarks, including combing for the superstructure made up using balsa
Steering servo – note: angled the same as the rudders. The servo bracket attaches to the towing ‘A’ frame later
Fibreglass hull with decks/bulwarks plug nearly ready for laminator
Oversized nozzles, props and rudders just squeeze in under the hull
One more coat of paint on the plug with the superstructure being built up in plasticard before the hull/plug goes back to the laminator
In the test tank – no leaks!
For their size these little tugs have huge nozzles and props as standard (70 mm and 65 mm respectively at this scale). I wanted to push this a little further and managed to squeeze 90 mm Kort nozzles and 85 mm 5 bladed props from Propshop. To get these monsters in I had to cut chamfers into the bottom of the hull and form tunnels to allow the flow of water into the nozzles to be as smooth as possible, otherwise the nozzles would hang down too far from the hull. The propshafts came from Propshop as well and are M8 shafts; these were connected to the Torpedo 800 motors by 2.5-1 aluminium pulleys by tooth belts from SHG. The motors were mounted on adjustable plates to set the right amount of tension/play on the belts (I may go 3.0-1 yet). The four balanced rudders were built-up around the prop shafts and tubes with the main blade in steel. A jig was made up so as to get all four rudders identical; these were all silver soldered. The main blades were laminated with plasticard on both sides with plastic strips to simulate the bracing detail. The rudders swivel at the bottom on a pair of ‘shoes’ (also in steel), mounted to the nozzles with screws so they can be removed later on if needed. The four rudder arms were connected together with a custom servo rod shaft with four lugs silver soldered at the same distance apart as the top of the shafts. It was important to do this otherwise binding would be an issue and put more strain on the servo. I have used a Hitec ‘HS-765 HB’ sail arm servo. This was angled in the hull the same way as the rudders to keep the servo arm parallel to the connecting rod. A small rod connected the servo arm to a lug silver soldered onto the connecting rod (see picture). Two six volt NiMH batteries wired in series gave 12 V power whilst the two torpedo motors were controlled by two Mtronic 20 A speed controllers, with a Planet 2.4 GHz radio completing the electrical side of things.
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