Round Table class Minesweeping Trawler 1942/45 Scale 1:48 Built from the Calder Craft kit Sir Kay.

Hello folks. before I show some photographs of my progress a quick rant to get off my chest. I bought this Caldercraft kit knowing full well it was a seventies design an primarily a RC build, and apart from the hull I didn't expect much, fair enough I have always expected to scratch build most of everything anyway. But while the design was 1970's the kit I bought was most likely manufactured in the last couple of years, yet most,(near all), the white metal parts where of the same crap that was the norm back then, maybe even worse some where so distorted. Caldercraft, I expect like most of the big mainstream kit builder companies must have made a fortune during the pandemic lockdown, so did they retool? invest in more advanced laser cutting machines? Or even new kit designs and designers? I don't know, but nothing shows so far, just the same old crap. The reason I am angry is that yesterday I spent three hours filing and cleaning up a dozen w/m fairleads to a standard that at least I could use. Three hours at even minimum UK wages is over thirty quid, I could have bought and had delivered a dozen 3D printed fairleads and had change from a tenner! I must have been nuts. I certainly will be nuts before I buy any more Caldercrap.
Anyway, since I was last here I have completed and installed the boat deck an was about to add davits and ship's boat when I thought it wise to add the funnel stays first. in reality the stays would have been steel rather than rope so I tried to imitate them with metallic thread but I am not sure about using it and may take it off again. I made some little shackles and fake bottle screws to attach them rather than just fixing them to deck bolts. I am in two minds about how to display the ships boat. I would look more dramatic hanging out on the davits but this would add quit a bit to the overall width of the finished display.
Here are some pics..

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Cheers JJ..​
 
Uwek said:
sorry to hear about your experience with some of the fittings
Did you contact somehow Caldercraft to give your experience or even to get a spare?
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No, its not worth the bother Uwek, my experience with CC in the past suggests it would be a waste of time.

JJ..
 
Hello folks.
Got the boat deck finished and the boat hanging on the davits for now. Below is a photograph of Sir Lamorack T242, Sir Kays sister ship showing her boat on the davits so I don't think I am too far of for scale. It was all quite delicate to put together but when finished is now quite solid. If I leave it like this I will need to find an invisible way of attaching the boat to the ship as I doubt that the 3D printed blocks are strong enough to carry it.
Next up will be the fore mast, as you can see from Sir Lamorack's it looks quite complicated, should be fun.


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Some more pics..

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Well that's me, of to watch the golf, 'come on the Xman'

Cheers JJ..​
 
Jack Jäger said:
Hello folks.
Got the boat deck finished and the boat hanging on the davits for now. Below is a photograph of Sir Lamorack T242, Sir Kays sister ship showing her boat on the davits so I don't think I am too far of for scale. It was all quite delicate to put together but when finished is now quite solid. If I leave it like this I will need to find an invisible way of attaching the boat to the ship as I doubt that the 3D printed blocks are strong enough to carry it.
Next up will be the fore mast, as you can see from Sir Lamorack's it looks quite complicated, should be fun.


View attachment 441346





Some more pics..

Click to expand...
Good morning Jack. I believe all of us have cursed most kit manufacturers at some point. It’s like why the @&#% do they produce that..? I have had the Masters on my TV all day as my daughters boy friend is a golf nut. Had to kick him off to watch the MotoGP.. ROTF . Beautiful work with the boat on the Davits….as expected from you;). Cheers Grant
 
GrantTyler said:
Good morning Jack. I believe all of us have cursed most kit manufacturers at some point. It’s like why the @&#% do they produce that..? I have had the Masters on my TV all day as my daughters boy friend is a golf nut. Had to kick him off to watch the MotoGP.. ROTF . Beautiful work with the boat on the Davits….as expected from you;). Cheers Grant
Click to expand...
Hi Grant, first of all, it's good to hear that your mums doing well, and very good that you care so much. As they say 'you never miss your water until the well runs dry'.
As for the Caldercraft parts I think I am over it, just! Before I had to retire I ran a small specialised paint company that I built up from scratch, I soon found out the importance of first class quality control and would never of dreamed to put out something as so substandard as Caldercraft seem to do , and then they expect us just to suck it up. As for the golf; that Scottie Scheffler has the luck of the devil, or maybe I'm just talking through my pocket!
As for the wee boat, its coming on well and I am already thinking of what to build next, but that's me, impatient, not like you lot.

All the best JJ..
 
Jack Jäger said:
Hello folks.
Got the boat deck finished and the boat hanging on the davits for now. Below is a photograph of Sir Lamorack T242, Sir Kays sister ship showing her boat on the davits so I don't think I am too far of for scale. It was all quite delicate to put together but when finished is now quite solid. If I leave it like this I will need to find an invisible way of attaching the boat to the ship as I doubt that the 3D printed blocks are strong enough to carry it.
Next up will be the fore mast, as you can see from Sir Lamorack's it looks quite complicated, should be fun.


View attachment 441346





Some more pics..

Click to expand...
A beautiful little boat with some very nice small details, Jack. The very little scale difference related to the ref. picture is no problem at all.
Regards, Peter
 
Peter Voogt said:
A beautiful little boat with some very nice small details, Jack. The very little scale difference related to the ref. picture is no problem at all.
Regards, Peter
Click to expand...
Cheers Peter, looks close enough for me. Only problem is I forgot that the trawler lies down three degrees to the stern so I will have to lengthen the the bow ropes to make the boat sit parallel to the 'sea'. Not much of a problem though. JJ..
 
Just a quickie, I will post something more tomorrow. It is 20.40 here and I am sitting in my workshop watching the golf and sucking a beer, I have been working on Sir Kay all afternoon and for the first time in a while she is out of he dock. I am well pleased with the progress, so far.

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Cheers JJ..​
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wednesday already, I keep minding to post some progress then I start something else, then think of a post, then do a bit more...repeat. Anyway I have made some progress. I have all but finished from the bridge to the stern. I have added a few bits to the engine room casing. A wooden rack for life belts, a deck storage locker just behind the funnel and a Royal Navy state of the art fire protection unit including all three buckets! In the photographs of Sir Kay I noticed a second galley chimney that was not shown on the plans so I added that,( probably the petty officers stove ). Most of the flying bridge is finished with the addition of the access ladders. The rest will be completed along with the WT rigging.
Next up was the mast, there is a lot of detail to add to it but again I will have to wait until I do some work on the forecastle before finishing. I had not tied any ratlines since my building of HMS Speedy and it shows. The fore and aft stays are quite substantial, the reason is that these minesweepers sometimes flew an Admiralty kite of the fore mast and even the odd a barrage balloon, that was until they realised that the balloon was a good marker for enemy fighters. Some photos. show a large sheave attached to the top of the mast, it was used to feed out the kites cable from a winch set on the generator roof. I am working on that but have found no good photographs yet.



Some photographs in no real order.




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Work on the forecastle next.

Cheers JJ..


​
 
Jack Jäger said:
Wednesday already, I keep minding to post some progress then I start something else, then think of a post, then do a bit more...repeat. Anyway I have made some progress. I have all but finished from the bridge to the stern. I have added a few bits to the engine room casing. A wooden rack for life belts, a deck storage locker just behind the funnel and a Royal Navy state of the art fire protection unit including all three buckets! In the photographs of Sir Kay I noticed a second galley chimney that was not shown on the plans so I added that,( probably the petty officers stove ). Most of the flying bridge is finished with the addition of the access ladders. The rest will be completed along with the WT rigging.
Next up was the mast, there is a lot of detail to add to it but again I will have to wait until I do some work on the forecastle before finishing. I had not tied any ratlines since my building of HMS Speedy and it shows. The fore and aft stays are quite substantial, the reason is that these minesweepers sometimes flew an Admiralty kite of the fore mast and even the odd a barrage balloon, that was until they realised that the balloon was a good marker for enemy fighters. Some photos. show a large sheave attached to the top of the mast, it was used to feed out the kites cable from a winch set on the generator roof. I am working on that but have found no good photographs yet.

Click to expand...
Again some very nice details and pictures, Jack.
Regards, Peter
 
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