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http://www.marinemodelmagazine.com APRIL 201541

followed by an armed trawler and the City of Zurich paddle steamer.

Roland went to great lengths to get the details right on all his

models. Unfortunately, during competitions and exhibitions the fine

and fragile components often got broken.

The World Championship was held at Liège (B) in 1983 and

Roland Pierson, as Secretary, showcased models in class C3.

There, the attention to detail and the fineness of construction was

marvelled at. This spurred him on to build a tuna fishing boat, a

schooner and a brigantine and these were awarded a gold medal

when displayed at the Championship of Belgium.

Along the way, Roland Pierson has also worked on two antique

naval craft. This collaboration gave him a lot of useful experience.

He has used this knowledge and restored some very beautiful

models and completed some interesting commissions; a Pen Duick

yacht, the Superbe with 74 canons, and many other prestigious

vessels.

Over the years Roland has had an interest in steam engines

and this was what he designed to power his new pilot cutter,

Chimaera. The rear hatch had to be extended a few millimetres

to fit the boiler and engine. Eventually, after an accident with a

burner, he abandoned this type of propulsion and chose an electric

motor as this was much less likely to put the model in danger, the

construction of which lasted three years. It is this version that is

detailed in this article.

Since then, determined to run steam powered models our

modeller now makes simplified boats with easy access to the

steam plant. This now gives him the rewards he wanted.

The Model

Roland Pierson has always been interested in the late 19th, early

20th Century craft, a period when the boats, as previously stated,

were full of charm, elegance, and built in a spirit of aesthetics and

strength. There, wood and metal were married which required

research and skill, both for the building of the real thing and for a

model.

To carry out this project, Roland Pierson purchased from the

Model Shipwrights (www.modelshipwrights.com) company the

plans for the Chimaera, designed in 1972 by P. N. Thomas, of the

correct size and type. This gave details of a 1/33 scale model,

measuring 102 cm long, 18 cm wide (24.8 cm with the lifeboat),

49.7 cm of total height and 6.2 cm draught.

ConsTruCTion

The hull was built upside down on the construction board.

This technique offers the greatest strength and rigidity for the

subsequent planking. It is composed of a keel, made of a single

piece, and eleven pairs of frames all made from 5 mm lightweight

aircraft plywood (Lite-Ply). Each pair of frames was hollowed to

minimise the weight. These frames were then covered with planking

made from Scots pine slats. The planks were added to alternate

sides in order to prevent warping of the hull. Assembly took place

using UHU Plus (white, water resistant glue). At this stage of the

construction the stern tube was installed.

The resulting hull was carefully sanded. Then the outside was

covered with silk cloth coated in polyester resin. This method gives

a good finish without causing too many wrinkles. Some small areas

needed filling to get the required finish. The interior was coated with

water resistant wood glue.

Finally, a second keel, made from 3 mm Plexiglas this time, was

installed outside the hull. For ease of assembly this was made in

four sections.

The deCk

The deck consists of a sheet of 1.5 mm thick aviation plywood to

which basswood planks are glued. These were made individually

using a small circular saw. The planks at the edge were made of

pearwood. The deck was caulked with strips of black paper stuck

between each plank and levelled before gluing onto the plywood.

At the stern the raised portion of the deck was made removable to

allow access to the receiver.

The completed model

The model rear deck

Details of the seat

The bow section

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