No smoke without fire. Or burning paint

Dave had done another good job fitting the chimney although the bolts were not long enough for the flange.  So the chimney will be welded on which will seal it better.   So all that remained was to light the fire.  A few issues occurred.  The first was that the fire itself is very very small so all wood has to be cut into 4 or 5 inch lumps.  It is in fact designed for coal (which I will get in future). The second issue was that the fire is not entirely sealed and the plate on the top leaks smoke until it heats up.  The crack (join) in the plates needs to be cemented (I have some).  But the main issue was that it looks like the paint on the top plate is either old or not heat proof.  So it just bubbled and smoke fumes.  Yuk.  It took 20 mins to clear the boat of smoke and get it safe to stay in.

So work to do on the fire.

The new chimney.

Bolts not quite long enough so will be welded.

oops.  Smoke!

Dinky little fire.  What was interesting was that with even a short burn of a small amount of wood the stove got hot and stayed warm for quite a long time.

Having played for a while (fun but not really work) the second set of cabins was started.  Managed to clear all of the lights, cables and trunking.  Also managed to get the carpets up on one room.  Dusty nightmare.

What was interesting was that even on a cold day the cabins were not cold, especially when there was a light (the work lights) in there.  I am now wondering how much insulation is required down there.

Next weekend will be spent completing the cabins (carpets, final wall fittings).

With most of Dave's work done it was time to find some new jobs.  The hatch in the radio room appears to be wooden and so it needs to be taken out and replaced.  The second job was the wheelhouse port holes.  For some reason the front of the ship side is missing 3.  But there are two identical portholes behind the engine room ait vents almost useless (4/5ths blocked).  So those will be removed as will the only square hole on the rear (which overlooks the foghorn supports!).  That will mean the ship will have a full set on the front and the rear one will be replaced with a simple round porthole.

That should keep Dave busy for a while.  Then we will need to think of something really tricky!