Elijah

Yea, I can attest to that.  I have a AL Morgan Whale boat that I built some 20-25 years ago. All the harpoons, cutting knives, oar locks are made from some type of soft white metal (probably lead based bismuth or something) - all have become brittle, cracked and broke under their own weight. I've tried gluing them together with CA but another section will break off in time.

The downside of solder is the lead.  It will deteriorate with time.

Solder makes great fittings if run through an Italian Pasta maker ( The kind with 2 rollers and a crank ) first to flatten it. It's easy to form and drill too ;
 

 

That looks very effective Nenad; even simulates the overlap of the plates.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Self-adhesive paper
 
Also for simulating cooper sheating
 

 
And after march of 4000 pieces, playing with thin acrylic and mat lacquer looking for color of Muntz metal
 
 

Since long time ago, everything electrical or mechanic which must go to trash, first cross through my hands, to cannibalize them, put off screws and nuts first. Many times in life this collection of different screws and nuts I keep, save my time and resolved problem. Wires of different kind also.
 
Ship modelling opened my eyes for another potential useful pieces/things/stuff/issues of all kind in surrounding

You have a small collection and I have way too many of them. Keep parts in them as well as computer parts. Because they close nicely with the little lock, nothing falls out.
 
I make fine rings out of the old fashion ball point pens I still see lying around. The springs are nice and round and easy to cut.
 
The admiral got on my case the other day when I took apart an old vacuum cleaner which she was throwing in the trash. I started separating all the parts I could use and trash. Then I found a little motor with copper wire on it and started unraveling that. She told me if I need that so bad go buy it, and it would be new and I did not have to clean it.
 
So I did that, but kept a few parts I can mold into something else.
 
Marc

Those small "gourmet" foods for dogs and cats... clean and keep the trays.  They are excellent for holding parts, sub-assemblies, and even using them for blackening solution.  I also use them for soaking parts that need to be disassembled in alcohol (but NOT acetone!!!).
 
I also have a small collection of plastic "pill cups", the kind used in hospitals (some pharmacies/chemists sell them). Used also for blackening and/or keeping bits and pieces in.

OFFICE PAPERCLIPS
 
Inexhaustible source of different thickness wire that can be easily processed. I made ( just making) inside bulwark staanchions from paperclips
 
TELEPHONE LINE WIRE
 
Inexhaustible source of thin cooper wire for different purposes
 
Cellophane from a cigarette box
 
 Can emulate glass on windows, lanterns etc etc

A stupid person's (me) guide for making pulleys, Capt. Steve was nice enough to ask me to share (:-)
 
 
My first attempt at using a Proxxon lathe to make pulleys in the early stages looked ok. Then came the part that I had to cut and trim the grooved dowel piece in order to slip the new pulleys into the new blocks I just built; Hmmm no good - they looked weak.
 
I then noticed that I had a loose cannon wheel lying about that was the same width as my dowel. Eureka, as a solution I then used my Proxxon rotary tool to spin the carriage wheels in order to cut grooves; again weak and inconsistent results.
 
Then another thought popped in. I could use small deadeyes that are so nicely pre-grooved and then just thin their sides a bit with a rotary tool, and just slip then in; Voilà.
 
The synapses were responding to absolute frustration with my inability to actually make these silly little monsters; cannibalization seemed to be an approach. 
 
Regards,
 
Michael

Hey Darrell - I love the stuff I was working with for this this build. I just haven't checked to see if it scales down well or not. I believe it's the webbing used for wedding veils although this stuff is black. OK well maybe a funeral veil.

Mike,
 
This looks great.  Have you finally decided whether you will be adding the hammock rail to your Niagara?  I am getting close to that very decision.  If so, have you given some thought how you would do it now that you have this experience.
 
Looking forward to when you get back to the Niagara.  It is lonely out here on Lake Erie without you.

Thank you Paul!

Getting so close I can taste it. I've finished the hammock rail & netting. It was debatable whether to do this or not. I know some have, others didn't. The deciding factor for me was just that the upper deck needed something to balance the clutter below.
 
That netting was not easy to work with. Getting the edge glued around a line really tried my patience. My first attempt at tying the netting off on the rail didn't go well either. What I ended up with is much simplified from the plans. I also found that gluing the netting to the supports first and then tying them off made things a lot easier.
 
I like the look of the netting. I wish I had something like that for my Niagara build. But then again, at 1:64 it might not look right. Still it would be nice to have some to stash away. I could see it being a nice addition for certain applications.
 
I ran out of the kit supplied material for making whatever those bags are. Hammocks? Stuffbag? Still need 3-4 more.
 

 

 

 

 
So all that's left is the railing and the cartridge buckets. The railing is underway.
 
 

Thank you Paul and thanks for your guidance.

I was able to really get going today. Thanks to Paul - everything  I did today was due to his last post. The shelves(ladders ) and the port opening system. I had been very tempted to leave all that out - the build is already crowded. But I suppose crowded is part of what the design is trying to display.
 
The build has an outer and inner hull with "frame" pieces making the space in between. After completing both hulls I put a capping plank on top of them to close the gap. Down the road I realized that the port opening system required ropes to be passed thru the outer hull, thru the inner hull and then rigged up. With that cap there was no way I could do this and it did not want to come out. Pauls most obvious idea - put a hole where I need to pass the ropes thru. The destruction is not a problem. There will be another plank that sits on top of the entire hull.
 

 
Access to both hulls using the gap in between them. Off to the races. These ropes are used to close the port doors. The brown rope is a seizing.
 

 

 
Holes for passing ropes thru the hull.
 

 
The rig to close the ports. A little cheesy, but they match the instructions.

 
Given that I did all this so late in the build there was no way to drill holes up into the beam, so I bit the bullet and drilled from the top. I'll have to go back and fill them.
 

 
Ropes in fitting and threaded thru hull.
 

 
Second part of the opening rig. Just a stropped eyebolt
 

 
Seizing the rope to the port fittings
 

 

 
Right about this time I got to wondering. I'm putting this whole system together based on one picture. It all looks good but how does it actually work? The next pic shows both positions - port open and closed. The brass fitting in the background is closed. The foreground (which I am pulling on) is open. OK, so maybe it will work.
 

 
Second block installed. More holes in the beams to fill
 

 
This shows the hole rig.
 

 

 
The shelves added. Do you see any resemblance to a ladder?
 

 
I did learn a new knot. I had to tie off the end of a rope in an eyebolt and there was virtually no room to reach it. The Davy Knot did the trick. This is a very cool website if you haven't seen it.
 
I'm actually feeling like the end of this build is in sight.

Two great points Paul. Wasn't thinking far out enough. Who cares what happens to that plank anyway? There will be another one with the hammock rail covering it all up. Duh!
 
I keep meaning to type some of that plan verbiage into Google Translate. Maybe that would have said SHELVES. If that's what they are I will include them.
 
Thanks for the help!

Well I threatened some pix so here goes. As I mentioned the other day, no real milestone just a lot of little things added. It's starting to look like a gun deck.
 

 

 
I believe I will go with only 1 row of cannon ball holders. The other row is supposed to go right at the back edge and looked a bit contrived to me. Besides there would have been no easy way for someone to get to them.
 

 

 

 
There's enough strips to make 1 maybe 2 more buckets. Possibly for the table.
 

 

 
I still have to do the rigging for the port doors, however I planked myself into a problem. The ropes for the door are supposed to go thru holes in the hull, outside to inside. But I have no way of passing the rope from the outer hull thru the inner hull as I have already glued a plank over the gap between them. That plank doesn't want to come up and I'm not going to force it. So I'll end up with ropes going from the doors into the outer hull and a different set of ropes coming out of the inner hull. It should look OK but it won't work.
 

 
Plans show 2 short ladders mounted to the inner hull right above the table. Any idea what those would be for? A short guy at the gun?
 
 
 
 
 

Good advice Paul. At this stage I have no choice but to go with their "scale" unless I want to start making my own parts. I'm just glad someone else thinks things are a little out of whack.

Moving right along. There has been some progress and I need to snap some pix for you guys. The problem is there really aren't a lot of milestones with this kit, and that's usually where I take a break, take some pix and talk about it all in a post. With this one, you just keep adding little things to it. And I suppose all of a sudden, Presto, you're done.
 
I did start the upper deck and grate. There is also something that looks like some bitts next to the grate. As I was fitting those it seemed like they are awfully low. I didn't have the cross piece in when I took the pix. Knee-knockers or maybe even shin-bruisers. Seems like they should be taller. Did anyone else get that feeling?
 
Remember this is 1:23 scale

 

 
 

Sirius - we had some good discussions on red paint in my Niagara build log. The kit showed a fire engine red which was much too gaudy for my taste. Also mentioned was the fact of the difficulty getting that bright red pigment. A lot of colors were made locally and included all sorts of items - clay, berries, etc. So I see the Chili Red as more authentic and a lot easier on the eyes.

Thank you Mike. I like your Chili Red color. You can try patenting it

Joe - thank you. I'm finding it interesting that each item added really brings more life to the build. I'm looking forward to adding the hanging hammocks. Should really give it it a 'lived in' look.
 
Sirius - I call it Chili Red - as in the food not the pepper.  It's a mix - both colors are Tamiya acrylic.  About 5 parts Flat Red to 1 part Hull Red.

Mike,
 
You're doing a very good job. What is the reference (manufacturer/code) for the red color in the gun carriages?

Looking very nice. Very sharp detail