Here we go again! So, this years project and it could well take a while is the Shannon at 1:16th scale. As this is likely to be a considerable investment (the kit cost £850!) I want to get it right....

I am going to base this on the Lowestoft boat as its close by for photo reference (when lockdown ends) and I like the black hull version better than the white!

Hull length 81cm beam 26cm

Once id sourced the kit, I set about reading as much as possible on the build and thankfully there is a dedicated page on facebook which Ive joined that has as much info as one can absorb by other owners and builders. The first thing to do was junk the included kit jet drives and invest in a pair of Oceanworks 24mm drives and motors from HK which duly arrived within 2 weeks of ordering.

I then set about sourcing all the other bits and pieces over the next couple of months less the batteries which I will get soon (stocks permitting)

The kit has been reproduced from the orginial by Speedline Models who like alot of model companies sadly no longer exist. The kit comprises a GF hull, deck and cabin, bags n bags of resin parts, decals, windows, brass wire and other sundries!! The quality of everything is superb, first class job by Tony on ebay who is involved in the reproduction process.

Apart from the Hamilton drives, ive bought 6 servos which are required for the reverse buckets, trim tabs and nozzels, Turnigy 40a ESC's, Mtroniks Napier diesel sound unit with better quality speaker, radar motor, blu flashing light, lights, switching unit and various other bits and pieces although I am sure there will other requirements as things progress.

The first thing to build was a stand using B&Q PVC piping and lagging to sit the whole thing on ......

First job is to modify the hull to take the Oceanworks 24mm Hamilton Jet drives as they require a flat hull to sit on. The indents on the hull that are being removed are there for the kit drives which are supposedly rubbish.

After marking carefully the areas to be removed, I set about carefully pre-drilling followed by taking out the pice using my dremel cutting disk. Then using the dremel sanding drum, carefully took the edges almost to the line and finished it off with the file to give 2 neat areas ready to be filled. Point to note, GF generates just the worst dust ever, do it outside if warm enough, but ensure your wearing a good mask to protect the lungs!

Next job was to tape a piece of 2mm plasticard with the plastic covering still on over the area to be filled. I then set about putting a layer of 2 part gel coat on the inside which will hopefully not set onto the plastic covering. This gel coat should finish flush with the hull, and once set I will look to fill the remaining section with glass fibre cloth and resin and once set sand back to gicve a flush area for the drives to sit on. This process will take a few days with setting times ect, so bare with me ......

Today’s sum total was cutting 3 laminations of glass matting to infill the pieces cut yesterday to raise it the same level as the surrounding GF. Once this had been well and truly stippled with GF resin, a rectangle of lightweight glass cloth was laminated over the whole area with a 15mm border to include the new area where the jet drive frame will sit. I’m hoping this extra thin layer will add strength to the join and in theory give a good stable base for the jet drives.

This will now all need to set solid, probably taking a minimum of 24-48hours in my freezing cold workshop! Oh well, back to work tomorrow anyway, so a good chance for Rob to move on with his pilot boat before I catch up next weekend! 😂😂

First moment of delight! Having left the GF resin a couple of hours to harden, I then removed the plasticard pieces that I had placed on to dam the gelcoat resin which just popped off no drama. What was left was a super smooth finish flush with the surrounding hull and will only require minimal wet n dry to totally blend in.

Next weekend I will flatten off any high spots on the inside in preparation for marking and fitting the drives, another key job that has to be right....

Had a little time after work, and it’s all the time I will have now until the weekend, however....

Having trawled through various forums, most builders have opted for mounting the jetdrive servos in the hull about half way down with upwards of 12 inches from servo horn to connection on the nozzles and buckets using m2 rods. This to me seems a long connection and is inviting slop if the m2 rods aren’t supported along the way? However, looking on top of the drive housings, there are 2 screw points either side and it figures in my brain that this is an ideal place to mount the servos. In fact, I found someone else had done that and can only guess this is the intention for these screw holes. Having fashioned a pair of mounts from 2mm plasticard with plastic rod supports underside for extra rigidity, the servos now sit no more than 3 inches from there connection points, reducing any chance of slop to nil, what we strived for in aircraft control surface connections!

Reading another post, there is a requirement to make a 1.5mm shim for the jetdrive output to butt up to the hull, as the gap between that and the nozzle bucket fitting has a gap thicker than the glass fibre it, easily fashioned from plasticard. Last job was to place some tape on the outside of the hull to prepare it for cutting out the hole to accept the drive from the inside and intake grill on the outside.

I don’t think I’ve measured so much for one component but I did .......!

Today’s challenge was to mark up, measure, measure again and measure again the areas were the jetdrive housings would sit in the hull and exit holes on the transom in preparation to mount the jet drive nozzle and bucket housings. To make a template for the hole in the hull, I painted on a layer of black tamiya acrylic paint onto the base of the jet drive and whilst still wet used the jetdrive like a stamp to make a template on 0.5ml plasticard which was then transfered to the hull. Once I had confirmed the markings were in the correct place I cut the holes out with a drill bit and finished it up with the Dremel sanding drum and files to get a neat hole. Cutting the round hole in the transom again after confirming the correct position was easy enough using the same technique.

All the measuring and checking had paid off as all holes have been cut in the correct positions and potentially that’s the hardest part of the build done! The inside of the hull hole did require a little levelling with the dremel to ensure the housing sat fairly flush. My aim when fitting the drives hopefully tomorrow but no later than Monday is to put a thin bead of silicone sealant on the flange of the jetdrive housing and then the whole thing is fitted with the external grill clamping it all together for what needs to be a watertight seal as this area is obviously under water at all times in use. Once that has set, I will then be double sealing the inside mount with glass cloth and resin for belt and braces, all will be revealed in due course...

The jetdrive outlet will be sealed with the same method before the nozzle unit is fitted.

Last job of the day was to prepare the first 2 resin parts which are the hull skegs with the dremel and files to ensure a flush finish on the hull. After carefully Marking the positions for fitting on the hull (there is a line indent on the hull to aid this), I then drilled pilot holes in the hull and skeg to take a 2mm self tapping screw and also used a strip of obechi wood for the inside of the hull to add strength and spread the load of the screws to prevent cracking the gf. This was all epoxied in for a strong finish and the tiniest of gaps that can be seen between the skeg and hole will be filled and sanded before painting with a smear of P94 filler.

The last couple of days has seen good progress made. The build requires that the jet drives are installed early on, so as to give a neat finish under the external grills, I primed and sprayed the area black. Once the hull is ready to go in the paint shop proper, I shall mask the grills and the outputs on the transom and re-prime the hole hull. The nozzles, buckets and trim tab assemblies will remain off until all hull painting is complete. Also added was a rear rubbing strake either side into the slots provided in the hull (strakes not provided in the kit but easily made from 2.5mm plastic card). Any imperfections in the slot was hit with P94 filler and sanded back for a neat finish.

Next job was to install the drives. Instead of sealing with a bead of silicone where the drive housings meet the hull and transom, I ran a bead of epoxy thickened with micro beads, placed them in position and used the outside grills to tighten it all down and seal. Once this was all set and making should the motors rotated correctly, I then added a belt and braces glass cloth and glass resin seal around the drive mounts and after that was set, a second coat of glass resin. The hope is that I have created a completely watertight seal, to be confirmed........

Last job today was to mount the first 4 servos on the drives that control the nozzles and reverse buckets. There are a further 2 servos to install on the transom roof that operate the trim tabs which will be the next job to plan, make and install followed by the radio tray made out of 4mm Perspex.

Today’s project was to fashion the servo tray for the 2 trim tabs to be mounted on the transom shelf and wall. Having looked at a few other builds on the various forums, I decided on a plasticard tray mounted on ply. The tray was fashioned from 2.5mm plasticard with reinforcement strips to aid rigidity and some extra pieces underneath to give the screws more material to go into. I then fashioned a mounting point from 6mm ply on the scroll saw for the uprights and a small piece of 2mm ply for the shelf. Once all was made and assembled and checked for correctness using the 2 holes I’d drill for the output wire, the ply was epoxied onto the transom. I shall beef up the joint with some resin and cloth.

Having another hour before it was time to walk the dog I started to fashion the tray supports that will have the 3mm Perspex sheet mounted to for electronics. This was simply made from aluminium bar which was locked together with 3mm countersunk bolts and locking nuts.

I found out on Monday that a family member had tested positive for the dreaded C19, therefore after calling work to tell them, I was instructed to self isolate for 10 days! That person has been banished to a room in the house away from other human beings! Oh well, suppose I’ll have to make models 😂😂😂

So, the past 4 days has seen most of the electronics installed. The main electronics board is 3mm plasticard which after placing all the items to be fitted, was drilled, cut and sanded ect before painting in red oxide spray just to hide the white plastic. Once lacquered and dry, it was mounted to the aluminium cross brace struts which will be bonded into the hull in due course. The tray is easily removable for any maintenance required. I’ve still to tidy all the wiring, but awaiting some nice eBay +able tidies before I do that. All the electronics have been hooked up and tested on the Tx for correct direction of travel ect.

Also fashioned was a speaker box for the Mtroniks Napier sound module, this time from 2mm plasticard before hitting that with red oxide paint and lacquer. The sound module has been hooked up as per the instructions, and the sound coming from it is silly grin stuff, very satisfying and as loud as you want it! Whilst I was in red oxide mode, I also have the trim tab servo tray the same treatment!

Last major component inside the hull was to make a battery box from a mix of 2mm and 3mm plasticard which will eventually fit under the main electronics tray and will be removable for safe charging the 2 x 3S 5000mah Lipo battery’s. Again, painted red for uniformity.

I prepared all the transom resin pieces and primed them in grey before hitting them with the same chrome paint that Rob used on his Pilot Boat bright work. As Rob correctly suggested, for the parts to remain Chrome, they haven’t been varnished or lacquered, the result again is very pleasing.

Tomorrow’s plan is final fit the electronics tray, battery box and speaker box, tidy the wiring

Another couple of days of good progress has seen the internal electrics bay nearing completion. Just the wire tidying to do and once fitted connect up the pushrods for all the control surfaces. The radio tray was bonded into the hull with epoxy to start with and then strengthened with “liquid metal” which is similar to P38 filler but when set is like solid rock, bonding really well to GF. The battery tray has a metal support fore and aft and is simply locked into place with a single screw for quick and easy removal for charging batteries in the safety of outside the boat. I’ve decided to mount the speaker box to the underside of the removable deck so that battery access remains easy.....

Next job was to start prepping the GF deck and cabin pieces. This started with rough shaping with a sanding drum on the dremel with a good mask on to prevent ingress of dust to lungs! Both pieces were then a rough finished with grades of sandpaper and final wet n dry for a nice pre-finish after which they were cleaned with panel prep spray to remove dust.

The original decks stemhead was cut out to prepare it for a better quality resin piece. This piece has had extra rivets added and a brass wire roller. Once prepared, it was then bonded to the hull and filled ready for sanding and filing at a later date.

Next job was to prepare the cabin in the same way as the deck ready for fitting the resin parts aft. Using sandpaper bonded to strips of wood, it was essential to ensure the roof panels remained with there sharp edges instead of rounding them off, a similar feature to the Pilot Boats roof that Robs building. The rear of the cabin was then marked out and cut out ready to start receiving the resin back wall and other parts. Once satisfied with the fit, I bonded the rear cabin wall in with tack spots of CA, then again once happy, the whole thing was solidified with more liquid metal for a strong bond along with a bit of filler in any gaps. I also fitted the port side pieces and will fit the starboard pieces tomorrow. At that point, I shall not add anymore of the rear cabin pieces as painting and adding the detail painting will be a nightmare with all the nooks and crannies, instead those pieces will be be prepared for fitting and painted off boat before final assembly ....

Rob, please don’t panic! Although I’ve done a lot this week, there are literally hundreds of pieces to add to this build, it really is a huge Airfix kit, the sort we dreamed of as kids! It will not be finished before your beautiful Pilot Boat 😂😂😂😂