Bluebird of Chelsea

Bluebird of Chelsea


It all started with a comment made to me by fellow Margam Park Marine Modelling Club
member, Jim Warren. It was back in April at the 2006 Swansea Model Boat Show when he

appeared from behind a pillar and whispered, “Hey Rick, I’ve just spotted our next build, come
and have a look!” I followed him, at a safe distance of course!, to the ‘Cwmbran’ model boat
stand. There, in pride of place, was one of the most striking models I have ever seen. She was
called ‘Bluebird of Chelsea’ and had been researched and scratch built by Geoff Taylor. The
more we looked, the wider the smiles became. We were hooked for sure. Bluebird was going
to be the next project - for both of us.

Jim took lots of photos and had a long chat with Geoff. He was a great help. Not only did he
offer to pass on details of suppliers and research information but he also gave us specific hints
on potential problem areas which he had encountered during the build. Jim and I are deeply
indebted to him.

The model was originally drawn up by David Metcalf to a scale of 1/24th which resulted in a
26 inch hull length. David also wrote a nine part series on the build of his version and was
published in the ‘Model Boat’ magazine between 1991 and 1992. This is a fantastic reference
for any budding builders. However, our version, like Geoff’s, was to be twice this size at 52
inches. The increase would lend itself to plenty of enjoyable scale work.

Our starting point was the hull. Geoff had purchased his from Harry Green of Birmingham. Jim
made a phone call and ordered two Bluebird hulls at £40 each. Harry produces them with the
correct amount of lead ballast cast into the keel during the manufacturing process. They were
ready for collection ten days later!

All we had to do was drive to Birmingham and pick them up. Now I’ve got a lot of faith in sat
nav systems. “Forget the telephone instructions Jim; I’ve got this little gizmo which will take
us to his door with an accuracy of a cruise missile! Just pop in the target reference, sorry, post
code and Bingo!” Well, all was perfect until shortly after we left the M5. The sat nav did in
fact take us to the street we wanted but all the houses had odd numbers! I asked one of the
residents where the even numbered houses were. She was amazed! No one had ever asked her
that before! She didn’t know anyway. There was, however, a nice street nearby which had lots
of even numbers, maybe I would like to go with her…..I was starting to panic now. There were
strange, large birds circling overhead and as I walked briskly back to
the car I swear I heard a few familiar bars of banjo music. “Quick Jim
drive!” “Where?” “Anywhere, just drive!” After two hours driving
around every district in Brum Jim said, “If all else fails we could try
this”, and passed me a piece of paper with the telephone directions to
Harry’s house”. I thanked him politely, switched off the sat nav and
ten minutes later Harry opened his front door and ushered us in. “Have a good trip? I thought
you’d have been here hours ago”. “Well”, lied Jim, “It was such a nice day we decided to stop
off for a bite to eat, no point rushing these things, is there, look you.” We collected the hulls,
graciously declined the offer of a cup of tea and two hours later were back, safe, in Wales.

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The first job was to clean up the hull and trim it to the correct
deck level. There was only a small amount which required
cutting back although the step down from the


forward deck to the mid/aft deck level needed adjusting. The
prop shafts were made from 4mm stainless steel, the prop tubes,
skegs and rudder from brass. (see photo)


A fair bit off filling and careful rubbing down transformed the
hull and I was ready to crack on with the serious stuff.

The decision was made to trial fit all the radio gear, speed
controller and motors at this stage. The main drive battery was
to sit forward of the motors but the exact position would be
worked out at a later stage.


Taking information from the plan I reinforced the bulwarks
with two layers of 1/8” light ply and made up the deck beams
from ¼” marine ply. A tube to take the receiver aerial was
fitted through the deck beams, just below deck level, up to the
bow on the stbd. side. This was followed by the fitting of the rear lower sub-deck and a portion
of the forward sub-deck. All made from 1/16” marine ply. (see photo)


The aft deck section was then planked using pine strips cut to ¼” wide
by 3/32” thick and glued down with black card between each
joint. Sounds complicated but it’s quite easy really. Cut a stack of deck
planks and glue them edge down, as a block, onto a sheet of ‘artist’s
thick black card’. I usually paint the card with PVA glue first, position
the planks and weight them down for 24 hours. Once dry they can be
separated by cutting down vertically between the planks and through
the card. Each plank will then have a strip of card along one edge. Told
you it was easy! Glue them down onto the ply sub deck (PVA again)
and when dry scraped down and lightly sand. This gives very realistic
effect and is well worth the effort.





The next job was to construct the rear accommodation cabin and
top deck unit. I used mainly 1/16” marine ply staining the sides
and back prior to assembly. The top deck was then added using
the same technique described earlier, then edged with mahogany.
(see photo)

Page 3


Probably the most complicated and enjoyable part of the build
came next. The main cabin was constructed using the method
described in Dave Metcalf’s article. Each panel was made up
using pre-stained 1/16” marine ply with mahogany strips around
the edges. The acetate windows simply slotted down into place
after the main carcass, minus the roof, had been completed.







The various internal lockers and consoles were added along with
the instruments and other numerous fittings. Great fun! I left the
roof until much later as I found there was a constant urge to keep
coming back to add more detail.


As Bluebird is built to 1/12 scale, there is a good range of doll’s
th
house fittings available. Jim and
I got ours from the ‘Doll’s House
Emporium’. Their service was excellent as was the quality of
the fittings.


Once the wheelhouse was
complete the cut out area in the
upper and lower decks could be
calculated. Work then started on
the foredeck and planking. All the planking is joggled as on the
full sized. It’s fairly time consuming but every now and then I
would have a break and either make some of the many fittings or
visit Jim to check on his progress.


All in all the build was going very well so far. I feel that a smaller version of this boat would
be a real test. The planking, for instance, would have been almost impossible to do using the
above method and as for the fittings.... need I say more!

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Once the deck was completed the next task was the holes for the
port holes. It was essential that the positioning of these was spot
on, otherwise the mahogany rubbing strip would not fit along the
hull.


The paint job was next. After a lot of rubbing down the deck area
was masked off and the hull given three coats of Halford’s white
acrylic primer. The final coat was given about two days to harden
off and then it was lightly rubbed down with very fine wet and
dry paper. The top half of the hull was then sprayed with Ford
Diamond White Gloss (Halford’s again). Once dry the area was
masked off, down to the waterline and sprayed with Red Primer,
you’ve guessed it, Halford’s. I left the masking tape on at this
stage and sprayed the Red Primer area with satin acrylic clear spray. This super finish is supplied by a
company called ‘Tilgear’. The name of the product is ‘Chestnut Acrylic Satin Lacquer’ and it currently costs
£4.50 for a 400 ml aerosol container.




With the hull painted some time was spent adding the rubbing
strips and finishing the edge of the deck. Incidentally, the
strips were completed and spray with the satin lacquer prior
to fitting. Jim and I were a little worried about possible
damage to the finished hull when gluing the strips in place,
but we used the following method with success. The
lacquered strips were drilled at equal intervals to take small
brass pins. I drilled mine 1mm. The strips were then
positioned accurately on the hull and held in place with strips
of masking tape. Once satisfied with the positioning I was
able to transfer the 1mm holes through the hull. The strips
were then removed, brass pins glued in the strips and the
completed sub-assemblies epoxied to the hull. The same
system was used for the mahogany rubbing strips around the stern.







The deck was finally given eight coats of Ronseal satin varnish, lightly
rubbed down between each coat.


The cabin could now be completed, the windows dropped in and the roof
added. This whole structure, including the various deck lockers and
furniture, were treated with Ronseal Hardglaze varnish. Masts and flag
poles kept me busy whilst the varnish dried. A lot of detail parts can be
made whilst the main build is on hold. I don’t think there was ever a
moment when the work had to stop because there was nothing I could do.

Page 5


The next two photos highlight some of the detail which was added at
about this time. As I’ve said before this was a really enjoyable phase
of the build. I’m beginning to understand the attraction of making
doll’s houses! Only joking, honest. There is so much potential for detail
on this boat that it is difficult to know when to call it a day.

The next major task was to make up and fit the hand rails. The
stanchions were made to order byJamesLane of‘Display
Models’. They are manufactured the same way as split pins and require
soldering down the middle and trimming to length. The mahogany
rails were soaked and pre-bent to the required contour using a jig. Like
the rubbing strips, the rails were finished and varnished before fitting to the top of the stanchions. Incidentally
there are some wicked angles in the hand rail where it drops down from the upper, rear deck.

Once the rails were completed the boat was approaching
completion. Only the clinker built dinghy and some deck fittings
had to be made. Flags
were added and the sea
trials awaited!














On Sunday the 8 of October bluebird was launched by Jim on
th
the top lake at Margam Park. We were a little concerned over the
two propeller one rudder set up but all was well. The speed and
maneuverability was to scale and she was stable in the windy
conditions. Jim and I were very pleased with the trials and after a
few photographs she was gently lifted from the lake by Jim and
Dave (the old back was playing up again!!)


As I write this the scratch built dinghy is almost complete. It
certainly didn’t take as long as I initially thought.

All in all the bluebird has, without doubt, been the most enjoyable
build I have ever taken on. There was plenty of head scratching
and a good few cups of tea with Jim whilst we worked out some of
the construction methods, but we both got there in the end and had a good laugh on the journey.

Page 6


Post script:


The clinker built dinghy is now finished and fitted to the stern.
She was built using Dave Metcalf’s method which was
described in his article. Basically a plug was carved from
balsa wood, sealed, polished and waxed. A grove was then
cut to accept the keel. The ribs were added followed by the
nd
1/32 marine ply planking. Really, this little boat was being
built almost as per the full sized. Although this was a new
method of building for me I thoroughly enjoyed the
experience. Hats off to Dave Metcalf, he certainly came up
with a logical, uncomplicated method of construction.


Jim is almost there with his Bluebird. In fact we compared notes today over yet another cup
of tea. The conversation came around to the next project. At the moment we are both at a loss
but no doubt somewhere at some show we will see a beautiful model and Jim will say, “Hey,
Rick………”