10
FIG. 9 – Installing the Bitts
and Bow Post
FIG. 10 – Main Cabin Panel Construction
MOUNTING THE HULL
If you are going to mount your model on
a baseboard, as opposed to using it in a
model railroad layout, now would be a
good time to do it to prevent details from
becoming damaged during handling.
The kit includes a wooden baseboard.
For a boat sitting in the water you can
add some strips of wood along the edge
of the baseboard, projecting 1/8" or so
above. The model can be mounted with
screws into the pilot holes you drilled in
the hull. For water, you can use paint, or
paint the baseboard, then pour casting
resin or acrylic gel over the paint. This
makes a realistic looking sea bed. The
photo on the kit box shows how it looks.
STAGE C
STAGE D
ADDING THE HULL DETAILS
Before beginning with the details, out-
line all topside items on the deck by
marking their locations with a pencil.
Take all measurements from the plans
using tick strips.
1. Stern Grating
The stern grating is a Britannia casting.
Clean it up, prime it and paint it before
installation. If you carved the bulwarks
using the casting as a pattern, it should
fit nicely.
2. Hawse Pipe Lips
Drill holes in the bow and glue the Bri-
tannia hawse pipe lips over the hole.
Shape the hole with a file so it blends in
with the hawse pipe lips.
3. Bow Fender
The bow fender is provided as a Britan-
nia casting but should be enhanced by
adding "rope whiskers"; for the model
glue on some short pieces of thread so it
appears nice and fuzzy like the real
fender.
4. Bitts and Bow Post
The bitts and bow castings could be
added later, but it is probably a good
idea to get these in place before adding
the cabin. Again, these are best painted
before being installed (see Figure 9).
5. Deck Plates
The four deck plates on the deck, the
round circles adjacent to the stack, are
for passing coal to the bunkers located
on both sides of the boiler. These plates
are iron set flush with the deck plank-
ing. For the model, simple paper punch-
ings from a 1/4" paper punch will serve
the purpose, or you can cut out holes in
the scored decking and insert a piece of
wood cut to the correct diameter.
6. Main Cabin
The cabin is provided machine-carved.
However, check the shape. The cabin
should be about 1/16" smaller all
around than the plan. To the sides of the
cabin, you will add covering sheets and
door and window castings. When
added, the cabin should be the correct
dimension.
With a pencil, lay out lines to locate all
the doors, windows, and a horizontal
line for the side panelling. The panelling
is to represent tongue and groove
sheathing on the real craft. Cut the pan-
elling from the scored sheet provided in
the kit. Arrange the panelling as shown
on the plans and in Figure 10. Notice the
panels are horizontal below the scribed
line, and vertical above. As an option,
you could glue individual strips of
wood to form each panel plank.
Glue each door and window casting in
place. Since the windows are open, paint
the cabin behind the windows black, or
light blue to simulate the glass. Do this
before installing the windows. You
could also be daring and insert some
plastic sheet in the window openings to
create some reflection like real glass.
Your choice.
Along the separation of the vertical and
horizontal panels, and at the deck, you
need to add a belt rail and coaming.
Thin, stiff paper like bristol board is
ideal. Make the rail about 1/32" wide,
and the coaming at the deck 1/16" wide.
Next, center the cabin and glue it to the
deck. At this point, it would be a good
idea to add the steering linkage which
connects the steering gear in the pilot
house with the steering quadrant which is
under the stern grating ( see Figure 11).
The linkage has a short chain on each end,
with a connecting rod going through deck
eyebolts. Although you can't see it, the
forward chain is connected to a rope or
light chain which passes over rollers up to
the pilot house steering wheel drum.
Make another pattern for the cabin top
and cut the top from sheet wood. Do not
use scored sheet. The top is canvas cov-
ered so the plank seams do not show.
For the edge of the cabin top, you can
leave it as is, or glue a thin strip of paper
or wood around the edge (see Figure
12). Glue the top in place, being careful
to align it evenly. When it is set, mark
the locations of the topside items in pen-
FIG. 11 – Adding the Steering Linkage
Mark with pencil
Belt rail
Coaming
Window Door
Horizontal panel
Vertical panel
Roller
Eye
Rod
Chain
Summary of Contents for Taurus 2021
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