10th-11th century Byzantine dromon by Louie da fly - 1:50

[mtaylor]

Very impressive research and execution, Steven.   

[MESSIS]

Very nice!

[Louie da fly]

The siphon is complete. I've been concentrating on the pipes to deliver the oil from the reservoir to the pump and thence to the nozzle. Made from thin wire, I first made the "pipes" forward from the two cylinders. In the background, my first (failed) attempt to join the riser pipe to the nozzle assembly.

Second (successful) attempt to attach the riser to the nozzle assembly. I made a jig from three miniature clothes pegs and added a dab of epoxy glue between the pipe "rectangle" and the riser.

And here's the completed assembly

 

Then the pipes between the reservoir and the cylinders.

Wasn't happy with the pump lever, so I decided to make another, with openings on the bottom for the connecting rods. Three attempts later I finally got it right.

 

Roughing out

Lever in place, and riser/nozzle assembly attached to the pump. Note the "blobs" on the pipes between the reservoir and the pump, and between the pump and the riser. These are to represent one-way valves in the pipes, to stop the oil flowing backwards once it's pumped forward.

 

And the handle to control the nozzle. As you can see, the whole assembly should be able to be handled by one man, as demonstrated in the Richard Windley video.

 

And here is the completed assembly compared to the roughed-out model I did before starting.

Pretty happy with this, though looking at the photos I see the nozzle is a little out of line at the front. I suppose I should fix it.

 

Steven

 

Edited February 11 by Louie da fly

[BANYAN]

Looks good Steven; I hadn't realised how small this was until you placed the match against it. some very nice 'bashing' there.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

 

[Louie da fly]

Oh, don't be fooled. That's my 1 metre long match. I got it from  IgorSky 😀.

 

Thanks everybody for all the likes. 

 

Unfortunately I've now found I have to do some adjustment. The nozzle was too long, so I've cut it back a bit, and it's also going to be higher than I thought so I'll have to adjust the forecastle so the parapet and the lion's head are higher . A bit of a nuisance, but I think it's inevitable with so many variables that can't be related to each other until it's time to put it all together.

 

Steven

[druxey]

Good going, though, Steven. The size of the assembly against the monster match is impressive.

[Louie da fly]

A few points to note: The videos make it very clear that this was a fairly short-range weapon and that it would only work if there was either no wind or a following wind - otherwise the flames would be blown back onto the ship itself.

 

I forgot to mention that I painted the pipes black to simulate pitch, as sealing the joints seems to have been a major issue and the Haldon people used the traditional medium to seal them. Windler seems to have overcome the problem by covering everything with some sort of extruded stuff - it's hard to see from the video what it is, and the issue is not mentioned in the voiceover.

 

Steven

[Louie da fly]

I've raised the level of the gap for the siphon in the forecastle parapet and added an extension to fix the lion's head to as well as acting as a shield against the heat of the flame.

 

I've also been having second thoughts about the siphon. My original plan was to have the oil reservoir at the break of the forecastle, below the deck, with pipes coming up through the deck to the pump. Then presumably the pipe/s would go under the deck and up to the siphon. I hadn't really thought about it past that, then I saw the videos and made an apparatus that followed their design.

 

But now I'm thinking of revisiting the original idea. It would make for a much less cluttered layout - the forecastle turns out to be rather short of space - and if I don't try to fit everything together as a single apparatus the pipes could be longer so the pump could be further back on the forecastle where it's wider to allow for more room for the rest of the marines using the forecastle in battle (if that's what they did when the siphon was in use!). 

 

Here's the current layout

And here's what I have in mind:

Additionally, it's occurred to me that the pump could have two handles if they were removable, as on a capstan. That would mean the pump could be a permanent fixture on the forecastle and hardly get in the way at all, and having two handles would allow for more efficient pumping.

 

I haven't fully decided whether I'd make a new apparatus from scratch or re-use the pieces I've already made.

 

Steven

 

 

[BANYAN]

Looking good Steven, and you have thought this through thoroughly .  I think the idea of removable handles is a good one as the crew would still need to have access around the forecastle for various tasks.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mtaylor]

You're thinking like a Byzantine sailor now, Steven.   

[cog]

Very impressive. I wouldn't have thought about the wind factor ... would have burned myself to ashes!

[Louie da fly]

In the process of making the siphon a permanent feature of the ship, rather than a self-contained unit. First I've put fake bronze cladding on the raised portion of the forecastle's fore parapet. I used the thin aluminium sheet from a can of cat food and will paint it to resemble bronze.

Note also three attempts to duplicate the "rectangle" of pipes I made for the first version of the siphon. Isn't always the way, I got it right really easily the first time but had no end of trouble trying to do it again. In the end I pulled the original siphon apparatus to bits and re-used the bits I'd made the first time.

 Sticking the cladding on with epoxy. Not totally happy with it - it's still a bit rough and ready compared with how I wanted it. I guess to really get on top of it I just need to do lots more practice working with sheet metal at a small scale. And in the meantime be satisfied with what I've done at the current level of skill.

Inserting the pillar to support the "pipe" riser, and cut holes in the deck for the pump assembly.

The pump in place - compare it with the photos in my previous post. In these photos the sheet cladding isn't fully glued down yet.

 

I think this works better. Considerably more deck room. Note in the final photo the pump handle up against the upright containing the pivot. There's one in the previous photo on the other side of the unit, but it doesn't show up well. The handles are glued in place but I think I'll have to make some sort of clamps or fittings for them.

 

Steven

 

Edited Sunday at 01:56 AM by Louie da fly

[Mark Pearse]

a great result Steven, it's looking very good

[BANYAN]

That looks pretty good Steven, I like the 'improvisation'

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Louie da fly]

Hmm, I might have been better cutting individual plates for the cladding and gluing them on separately.

 

Steven

[Louie da fly]

Just painted the "bronze" plates on the spur and the forecastle so they're the right colour. And added the "bronze" lion's head to the forecastle. Not too bad, but I'm sure I'll do better next time if I have to do something similar again.

And installing the siphon on the forecastle is almost complete, with the nozzle passing through the lion's mouth.

   

I've run a "pipe" under the deck between the pump and the riser.

To finish the rest off I have to wait till I've finished the forecastle's arched substructure and the dry-fit the forecastle onto the ship, with the oil reservoir on the main deck below it, so I can install the "pipe" through the forecastle decking to connect the pump to the reservoir.

 

Then it'll be ready to install (when I've done all the other things that need to be done to the ship before it goes in position).

 

Making progress.

 

Steven

 

[MESSIS]

Very nice done Steven! Its lovely what are you doing there. 

Christos

 

Ps the only thing is  that... you must speed up a little, because it seems that Constantinople will fall before you deliver  the Byzantine Imperial Fleet ☺😃😄 

Edited 12 hours ago by MESSIS

[Louie da fly]

Thanks everybody for the likes.

 

Christos, thanks for the comment. I wish I could speed it all up, but I have to fit it in with everything else I have to do, and it all takes time - more than I'd expected. The amount of time I've spent waiting for paint to dry, then glue to dry, you wouldn't believe!😁

 

Steven