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strobez
Greg Baker (strobez)
CA

The Crab with the Golden Claws (Lifeboat)

Album image #1
What a tiny little box... 
 

Album image #2
Oh, that's why it's so tiny... not much in it. 
 

Album image #3
Good thing I got two then. 
 

Album image #4
I needed two, because I cut it in half and glued the two round ends together. 
 

Album image #5
Ahh... what a nice day for a bit of rowing about the ocean. 
 

Album image #6
Oh, no! what have you done?! 
 

Album image #7
So I've got an idea for the base... the silicone will need time to dry, so best to start early I think. 
 

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Lots of careful sanding to try and blend the cut line without removing a large swath of the wood grain texture. Also added some covers on the ends. 
 

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The goldilocks of silicone water... not enough, too much, just right... 
 

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Now let’s start a fire on a boat... 
 

Album image #11
Yeah... better. Some silicone flames diffuse the light. 
 

Album image #12
Proof of concept... close enough for me! 
 

Album image #13
Test fit looks good. 
 

Album image #14
Added some little doors and we’re ready for some more paint. 
 

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Looks like it’s going to work... fingers crossed. 
 

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Where there’s fire, you need smoke... right? 
 

Album image #17
Added the rope grabs using a bit of black wire and cutting tiny “U” shaped bits and glueing them in place. 
 

Album image #18
All assembled now but the internal electronics. 
 

Album image #19
Don’t drink and row... 
 

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All that’s left is a tiny bit of wiring for the battery... 
 

Album image #21
And there we go. One on/off button for the fire. That’s a wrap! 
 

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Comments

40 15 January 2019, 15:30
Greg Baker
Ever have a modelling project idea pop into your head and it just wouldn't go away until you started building it? I ran across this little Medieval life boat while looking for the Heller Nina kit that I'm converting to a Dhow. Then the creative juices started flowing... and I have a couple of neat ideas for this one.

Besides... I was bored with the clamp/glue/clamp/glue bit with the dhow. 🙂
15 January 2019, 15:38
Greg Baker
I've got an idea for the base of this one... it's something I've never tried before, so I hope it works. In the meantime, I carefully sanded down the cut line, being careful not to just rub out all the wood grain texture. It also needed some careful sanding to get the two parts of the flooring to fit together. It sounds easy to do... cut two boats in half and glue the ends together, but if you want things to fit with as little seam as possible, you have to be careful and patient. I also used a bit of thin styrene sheet to add some covers to the ends.
16 January 2019, 15:42
Daniel
Hi Greg,
here are some inspirations, I found this website with lots of ships from comicbooks not only Tintin:
marine-marchande.net/BD/Bd.htm
16 January 2019, 16:01
Greg Baker
Oh... now that's cool! Thanks for the link~
16 January 2019, 16:04
Martin Oostrom
You're going to set the oars on fire?
16 January 2019, 18:30
Spanjaard
He is not that crazy
16 January 2019, 20:32
Cuajete
Interesting project. Following!
I'm curious to see if this will end in a Viking pyre 😛
16 January 2019, 20:38
Greg Baker
Does anyone know if any hobby shops carry dynamite? I'm asking for a friend...
16 January 2019, 22:16
Martin Oostrom
Just punch a hole in your tamiya extra thin cap. Let evaporate for a couple of minutes. Add flame and enjoy! 😄
16 January 2019, 22:31
Peter Hardy
Available at all good hobby stores near you!
16 January 2019, 22:38
Uwe Kaeding
Oh, now this one looks interesting. Are you going to get your lighting fix by setting it on fire? Also, are you looking for some of those ships from Daniel's link in 1/72 now? 🙂
17 January 2019, 06:38
Greg Baker
You've sussed it out Uwe... this one's bringing the fire and water... by way of LED lights and silicone caulking (mixed with blue paint). And you know what they say, where there's fire... there's cotton.😉
17 January 2019, 07:01
Greg Baker
So... tonight was the Goldilocks of silicone water... no blue... too much blue... just enough blue (and a dash of green). I'm not sure if I'm quite happy with the effect yet, but I have a giant tube of silicone caulking... I can make a few test runs I think.
17 January 2019, 15:40
Martin Oostrom
Depends on where the lifeboat is. Deep sea is more blue than shallow waters. Tropics are more clear than North Atlantic. Can't go wrong if you do it Greggish!
17 January 2019, 15:45
Greg Baker
LOL... I do it that way EVERY time...😉
17 January 2019, 16:00
Martin Oostrom
You could try GregStyle or Modèle á la Greg next time 😉
17 January 2019, 16:49
Greg Baker
Greg style strikes again... and results in the boat being set on fire.😉
20 January 2019, 16:22
Martin Oostrom
This one is smokin' hot!
20 January 2019, 17:34
Peter Hardy
Flaming brilliant Greg!
20 January 2019, 20:48
Spanjaard
so you ARE setting it on fire! and successfully i must say!
you may want to add some clear red in some points of the silicone, to give it different shades.
21 January 2019, 15:49
Greg Baker
Yeah. That thought has occurred to me. I tried various combinations of lights, but the orange led in the orange silicone gives the best result. But having a bit of variation should look better. I think some charred wood and a touch of smoke will also make it pop out a bit... at least I hope.
21 January 2019, 16:10
Spanjaard
that makes sense. looking forward how far you push the limits this time 🙂
21 January 2019, 23:45
Greg Baker
Well... I did stretch some clear sprue to make a bottle of Loch Lomond whisky... so that's a new one~
21 January 2019, 23:53
Spanjaard
i nee to remember that trick! thanks
21 January 2019, 23:54
Daniel Klink
FAntastic.. imagination and skills complement in your works - Bravo 👍
22 January 2019, 16:30
Greg Baker
Thanks Daniel. I got some more paint on it, but I snapped it in half along the weak glue seam while trying to get the LED to fit. So two steps forward and one back as usual. 🙂
22 January 2019, 22:27
Peter Hardy
As long as you didn't descend into profanity.
23 January 2019, 00:14
Greg Baker
It's not usually a descent...😉
23 January 2019, 00:16
Peter Hardy
Greg, oh dear Greg ... I have you up there on your throne of inventiveness and you chase away my delusions. When will you learn to treat your fans more gently?
23 January 2019, 00:21
Greg Baker
I'll try to contain myself...

Anyway, with work so busy, only time for a bit of work... mainly just made some smoke to go with the fire.
25 January 2019, 15:31
Greg Baker
I added the grab ropes to the outside by bending and cutting bits of black wire into "u" shapes and then glueing them on. Once that was done, it was just a matter of final assembly. It's all done now but for the internal wirin - basically the "on/off" switch. Let that be a lesson to you... don't drink and row...
26 January 2019, 14:05
Peter Hardy
Geeze this is fun to follow! I think I am enjoying this as much as Greg!
26 January 2019, 20:15
Cuajete
Fantastic effect!! Luckily there is water to put out the fire. Does silicone help this? 😛
26 January 2019, 20:32
Peter Hardy
I bet Mum didn't appreciate the silicone stench either!
26 January 2019, 20:34
Cuajete
😄 😄 😄
26 January 2019, 20:38
Michael Hickey
That looks great.(Y(
26 January 2019, 23:15
Donald Dickson II
Very cool!
26 January 2019, 23:26
Greg Baker
Thanks guys. I have to say, with this one I actually impressed myself a bit. I can still see the flaws, especially along the centre cut line, but despite that it looks pretty much like I was hoping it would. This was my first foray into silicone water. My assessment is that it works well for raging seas, but I had a hard time to get a "gentle water ripple" (for my canoe mini-project). It also worked well as a light diffuser for the fire LED, which was an application I just stumbled across.
27 January 2019, 00:45
Daniel Klink
Fantastic job Greg
27 January 2019, 00:50
Scott Dunn
Blistering barnacles!
27 January 2019, 04:04
Tom ...
That's a total keeper, Greg. It's inspiring to see such creativity. Seams or no seams, it's the endeavor that maters!
27 January 2019, 06:02
Peter Hardy
Put the microscope away maestro, time to look at it as everyone else will.
27 January 2019, 07:20
Cuajete
Congrats, Greg!
27 January 2019, 19:51
Spanjaard
excellent job on this crazy idea... you really pull it off!
27 January 2019, 23:12
Greg Baker
Thanks guys! It's fun when a kit inspires that "hey, what if I..." feeling. So I'm happy if that bit of inspiration could be passed on in some way.
27 January 2019, 23:32
Greg Baker
Been away traveling for a week, but that I'm home, I was finally able to finish up the bit of wiring for the battery and the on/off button. All done but the decal for the base.
2 February 2019, 14:39
Martin Oostrom
Now you need to build a fire engine!
Perhaps you can borrow Donald's Pink one?
2 February 2019, 15:53
bughunter
Nice result, I really like the bottle!
I hope you have added a resistor to your LED/battery/switch. To limit the current LED needs always a resistor. This will increase the lifetime of the LED, and the battery can deliver more hours. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode and [img1]
 
3 February 2019, 21:41
Michael Hickey
This come out sweet.👍
5 February 2019, 01:48
Greg Baker
Thanks bughunter. I did indeed use a small resistor on the LED. With a 3V power supply and one LED, it doesn't really make much difference in my experience, but it is the proper way to do it. When I'm using a 5V USB power supply and multiple LEDs or motors, I always spend some time trying to figure out the proper resistance for the circuit.

Anyway, a few final pics.. all done!
5 February 2019, 01:48
Alec K
Very nice job Greg. Original and unique as always 👍 👍 👍
5 February 2019, 02:25
Donald Dickson II
Absolutely awesome! And small!
5 February 2019, 02:48
René "Lord Bilbo" Bartholemy
Nice small (d/th)ing(h)y you have there...😉 A pleasure to look at and to follow the progress. As always!
5 February 2019, 11:01
Spanjaard
excellent 🙂
6 February 2019, 08:14
Greg Baker
Thanks guys! This one was a bit of a test case for the water effect, So I kinda surprised myself.😉
6 February 2019, 08:17
Nigel
There's kit building. There's kit bashing. And then there's art.
6 February 2019, 10:23
Daniel Klink
Definetely art 👍
6 February 2019, 10:28
Greg Baker
Wow. Thanks Nigel. That comment made my day.
6 February 2019, 20:26
Simon Nagorsnik
Hi greg, what do you say about the quality of this kit?
Because i'm lokking for some items for a small harbor dio
Ps.: nice water🙂
7 October 2021, 14:39
Villiers de Vos
A very original idea, well executed.
7 October 2021, 15:47
Torsten
Great work, so 😎
7 October 2021, 15:50
Roland Revolvermann
Beautiful work Mr. Baker 👍
7 October 2021, 17:29
Greg Baker
Thanks guys. I have to say I love this little kit. I've used two of them on this model, but also modified one for my The Black Island (Motorboat) | Project by strobez (1:72) project and built one more or less out of the box for my Ghibli: Tales of Earthsea | Project by strobez (1:72) project.
8 October 2021, 05:00
Dominik Weitzer
This is cool!
8 October 2021, 05:29
Gary Kitchen
Just wow! These are like vignette shaped flashbacks of my youth.
8 October 2021, 06:15
Rui S
Another Beauty 👍
9 October 2021, 16:02
Nils Steyaert
love it 👍
9 October 2021, 18:14
Juergen Klinglhuber
👍 - another one of your creative and beautiful projects. Great!
10 October 2021, 19:22
Łukasz Gliński
Another cool addition to your museum 👍
10 October 2021, 20:51
John Thomas
Very cool
11 October 2021, 00:53
Andrew Horton
Wow! It looks great!
12 October 2021, 05:36
Greg Baker
Thanks everyone. I'm glad this little project made a bit of a comeback. It's one of the parts of my Tintin collection that I felt the most proud of.
12 October 2021, 15:23
Lochsa River
...Comebacks are great!.....nice fun piece, Greg
20 November 2021, 22:36
Mark
Wonderful. 👍
20 November 2021, 23:20
Greg Baker
Thanks guys. Much appreciated! I've got another Tintin boat on the bench... hopefully I'll find time to finish it soon. Been busy at work and what little spare time I've had seems to have been sucked up by Canada's World Cup Qualifying campaign... 😉
22 November 2021, 17:29

Project info

29 images
1:72
Completed
1:72 Medieval Life Boat (Zvezda 9033)1:72 Medieval Life Boat (Zvezda 9033)

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