Above the waterline

After cutting out the cabin aperture and also the Y boat compartment access it's time to fit the compartment itself.

The picture shows the upturned deck with the Y boat compartment clamped into position prior to the application of adhesive; it's important to obtain a good bond here, so being liberal with the glue is just fine.

The picture shows the deck in place during a trial fitting.

It's important to make sure the fit is perfect as it's impossible to alter once adhesive is applied, so patience here is a must; trial fit three times, glue once - as the saying goes!

The next picture shows the deck finally in place with clamps and weights applied as nessessary; it also shows two lengths of stock in place to determine if the deck is square and free from twist.

The model was then left for twelve hours for the adhesive to cure completely before further work was commenced.

With the steps in place a start was made on the deck fittings.

The author finds it useful to have a collection of weights and other items around the workshop to help with holding fittings while the glue sets up -

here we see an engineer's square being pressed into service to hold a tricky job.

The fitting of the kick plates posed a minor problem of how to hold the two components accurately while the glue set up.

A trip downstairs to the engineering workshop produced a series of jigs which made the job easy.

The picture shows three jigs in place holding the kick plate securely while the glue sets up - a few minutes on the mill made a tricky job easy. 

The set up used to construct the rear crossbar assembly.

 Being made from wood the use of standard super glue is not recommended, and the author used epoxy cement for this job. Care is required as there are tricky angles involved and the unit is built over the full sized plan.

The picture shows the rear crossbar complete and ready to fit to the model after applying several coats of white paint.

A start is made on construction of the mast assembly.

 Check and adjust if nessessary the pre-formed brass tube; it is very important that both pieces are identical before starting, otherwise it will be impossible to achieve a square construction.

Constructing the component parts for the mast.

 The best method here is to use solder for the joints, giving a quick and very strong construction; check the squareness of the build at all times.

The basic mast platform taking shape.

 It's worth noting that the materials as supplied (4mm brass tube) in the author's kit proved to be insufficient to construct the mast platform to the published design.

The picture shows the simple tools used to produce the mast platform. Heat for the soldering operation in this case was provided by a solder gun (vintage 1968) but any 50 watt soldering iron would be sufficient.

The upper mast construction after primer coat has been applied.

The complete mast platform sub assembly ready for final painting.

The mast sub assembly after painting satin black; it should be noted that, contrary to the instructions on operational boats, the Doppler direction finder aerials are painted white, not black.