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Here are photographs of both the forward (bottom) and aft (top) deck manifolds.
There are two (2) forward and two (2) aft manifolds mounted to the main deck, and they are used for pumping water through fire hoses.
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I used ABS plastic parts from Plastruct (see their web site link on my Links page) including: tubing, t-fittings, elbow fittings, flanges and end caps to manufacture the piping.
Currently, the piping is simply snapped together. It will eventually be glued, sanded, primed and painted before installation.
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The manifold valves were manufactured from ABS Plastic, Styrene Solid Rod and Celtec. The valve itself was a plastic Saunders Valve (Plastruct) which I ground and filed into shape. For the pipe and cap, I used the Styrene Solid Rod. Celtec was used for the mounting flanges and also the gearbox top.
My plans are to duplicate these in a mold so they´ll all be the same. Additionally, the first one took the better part of an afternoon to complete, and there are sixteen (16) of these on the boat.
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The BEST plans sometimes have to be altered. Well ... as was the case with my master manifold valve. A friend of mine, Paul Holloway of Holloway´s Hobbies (see web site link on my LINKS page), tried to make a mold of the thing, but the rubber wouldn´t cure properly. He tried and tried and tried some more. After about six (6) attempts, he decided to make another master himself. The only thing we can determine as the possible problem is the plastic Saunders Valve. It was made from butyrate!
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After gluing the valves to the manifolds, it was time to test-fit them on the deck. Here, you can see there are a total of six (6) valves near the bow and ten (10) toward the stern.
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A coat of gray primer was next ...
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... and then back on the boat they went.
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A closer view of the manifolds near the bow give you a perspective of how impressive these things will look.
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Trimming the valve handles of excess plastic was tedious to say the least. But, even more time consuming was drilling the holes for the shafts and handles, and then installing them into the handle rings.
A couple coats of chrome paint completed the job.
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