Well, this story is about our coming to build HMS Norfolk, a large model. It would be 9 feet 3 inches in length with a beam of 13 inches and weigh between 90 and 112 lbs in total. 
The finished model of HMS Norfolk
As my garage also contained a model with a petrol engined, triple shafted British Motor Torpedo boat which was 6 feet 1 inch in length and other models such as Virgin Atlantic Challenger I & II which also were 49 and 53 inches in length respectfully, there would have to be some moving around to accommodate the new model. (Like fitting in a 10 feet bench on which it was to be built.)
I must say if it was not for my LOVELY wife I would not have had the room to do all this! She asked if I would like her to remove her BRAND NEW CAR from the garage so that I could have space for a work shop; now that was nice. So I said YES PLEASE!
I felt that most 1:96 models were going to be too small to be used on the rivers and Broads, so I decided to double up the size to 1:48.
I bought the model plans from Greenwich Maritime Models. (Sadly they are now closed.)
They came in a long tube consisting of three full size sheets and these were line drawings only. These plans are NOT for the faint hearted as they are the most DIFFICULT plans possible! Fortunately, Peter was very good at making models from them, whereas I was more of a general builder and not versed in understanding this type of plan. PHEW!
First I bought wood for its very own bench which was to be nearly 11 feet long and to take up two thirds of our garage. After this was done I proceeded to cut out the drawings of the bulkheads and have them doubled up in size and then Peter and I glued them on with wallpaper paste to 6mm medium quality 4 ply plywood.
Bulkheads, Keel & Bottom plinth.
We did however use 6 ply high quality ply for the stern and the middle sections. I had our works joinery make a two piece hardwood keel, as it would have been too long and flimsy in one piece.
The problem was how to mount the bulkheads, all 34 of them, in orderly fashion.
Keel and Bottom Plinth, with the plans on the wall.
We came up with a clever little idea of mounting the keel into a slot in a piece of hardwood about 10 feet long, 4 inches wide and 11/4 inches thick. The slot was ever so slightly smaller than the keel. This was made for us by one of our friends called Paul Notley.
We proceeded to insert the keel into the slot, but this was more difficult than we thought and we had to bang the keel in lightly with a soft headed hammer.
The picture shows you the main piece of wood holding the keel and you can see the plans attached to my walls. You can also see the purpose built bench. Also you can see most of the bulkheads that now are glued into position.
This done, Peter and I cut out all the bulkheads and the notches for the stringers.
We were going to use 6mm Ramin and these were bought from Frank Parker’s (sadly no longer) and they came in 8 feet lengths. Even so we had to join them all. Originally I wanted to build it all in one piece but Peter said we were not getting any younger and it would be difficult to move around. POOR OLD SODS! So we were to build it all joined up and at the appropriate time we would cut in half.
I decided to use 5-minute Epoxy glue throughout, much to Peter’s utter HORROR and DISGUST. Well, it was my model and I was paying for it and this was my choice.
As we could not build it the normal way with keel upside down, we faced a few problems but we were to overcome them all. We started to glue in all the bulkheads and left them to harden for a few days.
Peter and I were just about to start again, when Peter said in a funny tone voice, “Have you looked down the hull towards the bow?”
“No,” I said, so I looked.
To my HORROR all the bulkheads had twisted. WHAT A PAIN! So we both had a good swear!
Then we started again by cutting out replacement bulkheads. Removing the original ones was not easy, as we had used Epoxy glue. This time I found a 50mm x 10mm piece of red hardwood and when we re-glued them onto the keel, we made sure that we pinned them with 30mm panel pins.
(SO MAKE SURE YOU PIN A PIECE OF WOOD ALONG ALL THE BULKHEADS!)
Looking Forward from the Stern
This photo shows the high quality of the stern bulkead made out of marine 6 ply. Also the whacking great hardwood keel that was made for us. You also can see the main piece of wood holding the bulkheads in place - this is a must at all times, as it stops them from twisting.
Steaming and Gluing the Stringers
After the glue had hardened on all of the bulkheads we proceeded to glue in the stringers and this was an exacting task.
We also had to join most of them, and we steamed the more difficult shaped stringers, such as the ones on the pointed end (“WHOOPS”, I mean the bow.)
Well, we’re not perfect and we have allmade cock ups sometime along the way. We used my old kettle for the steaming. Be very careful here as you could scald yourselves if you’re not careful!!
We found that the bow was a real menace to build and this took forever to do. We used steel Veneer pins throughout, but using a few panel pins as well. Before tapping the pins into place we pre-drilled all of the stringers and this saved a lot of splitting.
As you can imagine, we broke a few drills, as these were very thin indeed. In some sections we doubled or tripled the stringers, mostly where we had joined them.
The main bow frame was part of the keel and was made of Mahogany, which made it very strong. Initially we were building the model on only one night a week. This took until the second week in March 1996.
It had taken us 98 1/2 hours so far to do.
Looking Forward
Looking Forward
You can see how the bow looked and how difficult it was. The main part of the bow was made of a single piece of Mahogany.
The Hull
We lost a little bit of time here, because we were both doing other things, but between September and October 1996 we continued working on the hull, putting in dozens of skin strengtheners as these would give the skins greater stability and strength.
These were very fiddly and utterly boring to do but most essential and after about 11 hours we finally finished the job. Then we began to sand and shape the stringers. Always make sure when sanding to wear a good facemask as most fine dust is NOT good for your HEALTH!
As you can see there were dozens of skin strengtheners and some are pictured here.
Showing the middle section of skinning
