JSGerson
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Everything posted by JSGerson
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Like I original mentioned, I've never tried blackening brass to enhance the painting process, so I would do a test on a piece of scrap metal. Glad to be of help Jon -
You might try pasting a narrow piece of paper across the joint on the bottom side of the frame to act as reinforcing holding the frame ridged. Once the grid is fastened to the frame and attached to the deck, the frame will be permanently supported. I had a thought about painting the hatch comings. In my limited experience, paint tends to slide as it is being brushed to smooth metal surfaces. Try blackening the brass a bit to add a bit of surface roughness for the paint adhere. This way you can add thin light coats of wood colored paint, and not clog up the grid openings. I've never tried this before; it's just a thought. Jon
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Excellent research on the gun carriages to obtain authenticity for your model. It is for the reasons you encountered in the your quote above that use the hardwood, boxwood, for any wood component that requires precise edges. It may be a bit more expensive and not as readily available in hobby shops (but certainty available on-line), but is well worth it. If you have read my log closely, I indicated when and why I switched woods. Typically, if the wood is to be unpainted, stained, or I need those sharp edges even if painted, I'll use boxwood. In my Rattlesnake model, I used different color woods in lieu of paint (except for black. Ebony was called for but I used paint for reasons of availability, health (saw dust not healthy), and resistance to bending). Jon
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USS Constitution by mtbediz - 1:76
JSGerson replied to mtbediz's topic in - Build logs for subjects built 1751 - 1800
See, there is an advantage for going slow, now I got you to show me how it's done. Beautiful work on the stanchions and fife rails. Now if I can just set up my Dremel drill stand so it can perform this feat when the time comes. Jon -
Peter: As tricky as that companion way framework was, I did enjoy working it out. It was a nice puzzle. If I had access to the printed versions, I might have giving up and surrendered to the temptation to using a manufactured part, and where is the fun in that? Looking closely at my work, there were a lot of things that weren't as precise as I would have liked. Hopefully, I will do better this next time around. Unegawahya: I am just starting to work on the next canopy and feel much more confident, however I do plan on leaving one companionway closed with the grating on, and the canopy frames off. just to show the difference. The concept is relatively simply, but the execution can be tedious and delicate. Jon
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Take a look at Jfinan's BJ build starting at Post 60, to help clarify the gratings for you. Jon
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Peter, I still haven't found out who made those printed versions we saw earlier. If I do, I'll let you know. Jon
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I love banging my head against the wall...I feels so good when I stop!😁
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Thank you very much! Coming from you Mustafa, that means a lot!!! Jon
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You made great progress especially on the windows openings. The window frames provided by the kit are not true to shape as they are distorted based on the foreshortened view from the side of the ship. This is why most of us had a problem using them and resorting to trying to fabricating them. I had so-so results. Looking forward to your future posts. One minor note, I appears your port holes are a little proud of the hull. They should be flush to the hull with only their "eyebrows" protruding. But I'm a detail nitpicker and unless one is aware of this fact nobody will notice or care. Jon
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Thanks for the praise guys, now I have have to do it again, & again, & again, & again and be consistent about it.😬 Jon
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Attaching the “spider” to the stanchions went smoother than I had expected. The legs of the “spider” were trimmed and be approximately even with each other. Then a brass bead was added to each support and inserted into a stanchion, moving around the hatchway one by one in turn. The last support (unpaired) was cut to size from the “0.020” brass rod and added to complete the canopy. It’s not perfect, a little out of scale, and maybe a tad crooked, but it’s done. This one assembly took almost two months to complete. Now that I know what to do, hopefully the remaining four frames will go a little easier and quicker…maybe.
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A 3/32” hole was drill into each of the two bending jigs to position the canopy hub. The canopy supports were easily bent which created a brass “spider.” Note, the 7th support remains to be fabricated.
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The assembly was cut off from the working “handle,” the ornamental top was trimmed, and the ornamental brass bead was glued to the bottom stem. The second photo shows assembly lying on the hatchway.
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To complete the mechanical hub structure, a locking ring was cut from the 1/8ӯ tube and fitted over the slots converting the slots into holes and locking the supports to the hub.
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A length of 2 3/8” 0.020” brass rod was cut and bent so that one leg was 1” and the other 1 3/8” for the two supports lengths of the frames. This is a bit more than was needed, but it is easier to cut off excess than extend a short leg. Three pairs or 6 supports were created, however, this canopy required 7 supports. The last support (non-pair) was planned to be added once the canopy was assembled. At that point the seventh support will slide into the remaining opening in the hub and be glued into place. A length of 1/16”Ø brass tube was inserted into the hub assembly as a “working” handle. As each pair of supports was added to the hub, it was secured by CA glue.
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The end of the 1/8” tube was sawed off, producing a 1/8”Ø “crown” shaped component. Next, a slice of 3/32” tube was cut creating the seat ring, which was inserted into the bottom of the “crown.” Inside of that, a length of 1/16” tube was inserted creating the inner wall and axial of the hub assembly. Following the plan, additional pieces were added to create the hub.
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The trick here is cutting the brass slots to accept 0.020” Ø brass rod. My fine-tooth miter hand saw is 1/128” (0.008”) thick, cutting very narrow slots. The slots were 1/64” too narrow and my files were too thick to fit in the cut slots to widen them. Using various drill bits in my variable speed Dremel at the slowest setting, the slots were widened by sliding the spinning drill bit up and down the slot cutting with the bit’s side. Sorry, I could take a picture of this, as I needed both hands to perform this procedure.
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Fifth Attempt Ok, let’s be more pragmatic and increase the diameter of the hub to 1/8”Ø and sacrifice a bit of scale. If I’m going to do that, I can also discard the styrene for the hub material and come full circle and use brass tube once again. Since I won’t be drilling holes, (the reason for the plastic in the first place), but cutting slots, I’ve eliminated the brass holes problem.
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Fourth Attempt The next development was the idea to make a double support such that the brass rod would pass into the hub and back out through a difference opening as a second support. This would mechanically fasten the brass rod to the hub. To do this, I would have to change the drilled holes in the hub to vertical slots so the brass rod could be dropped into the openings. It’s not like the rod can act like a piece of string that can be threaded. This introduced a new problem. Once the holes in the styrene hub were converted to vertical slots, the remaining vertical styrene material was now narrow, flexible, and weak and would break off should anything tug on them…like the brass canopy rods. Additionally, more room is needed to accommodate the bends.
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Third Attempt My next idea would be to cut the 1/16” Ø brass tube leaving the 1/32” Ø rod alone uncut. Now there would be two 1/16” Ø brass tubes one on top of the other with a gap in between, wide enough to accept the 0.20” brass rods. This expose tube wall would extend the rail seat another 1/64”. Mechanically, it is slightly stronger than the previous idea, but still fragile. And how does one assemble 7 to 8 spokes into the hub and hold them in place precisely to glue them together with sufficient strength?
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Second Attempt I was forced to make a small dimensional compromise. The top part of the full-scale ornament is 2” in diameter which scales down to 0.03” (1/32”). This had to be enlarged to 1/16”Ø due to fabrication practicality. At the center of the hub, is the ornament which consists of a 1/32” brass rod which is inserted through a 1/16” brass tube. At the bottom of the tube, the 1/32” rod extends out into the 1/16” brass bead. At the opposite end, the rod and tube were to be filed into a rounded point. However, the enlargement forced me to remake the styrene hub component. The 3/32” Ø styrene tube’s inner diameter was about 1/64” was too narrow to allow the 1/16” Ø brass tube to pass through. It had to be drilled out with a 1/16” drill bit. This left a very shallow 1/64” tube wall rail seat for the 0.020” brass rod to rest on and glueing surface. Mechanically, this would be very fragile and would not secure the 0.020” brass rods.
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First Attempt – Original Plan As mentioned in my earlier posts, I had to forgo using a brass hub because I had difficulty drilling holes in brass and thus substituted styrene. The styrene hub 8 circumferential support positions, of which 7 of them for this canopy support, were drilled with a hole to accept an arched support. Unfortunately, drilling these holes practically cut the styrene tube in half.
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To fabricate the arched framework, I had to work out how to make the central ornament. If I had a metal lathe (and knew how to use it) it might have been relatively simple...I think, maybe. But I don’t, so this is how, why, and what I worked out, based on the US Navy plans.
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Considering you said you had no experience with a lathe, was working with a piece of equipment you knew basically nothing about, and it broke, you managed to produce a gun barrel that looks spot on to your drawing as well as the one seen outside the buildings of Savannah College of Art and Design. Well done!!! Knowing nothing about casting, I look forward as to how you create a mold so that you can cast numerous copies of the barrel. Jon
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