tasmanian

For those of you who have had hit or miss success with blackening I have found the following techniques to work consistently and create a durable finish that won't rub or flake off. Most of the products are available from Beaducation, a jewelry supply store that also has great learning videos https://www.beaducation.com/pc/393-jewelry-making-tools-soldering-fusing-tools. Check it out.
 
The change I have made is that I now use Sparex on all my brass parts prior to blackening. Anyone doing silver soldering should have Sparex and a small pickle pot in their arsenal (see above link). The heated pickling solution removes oxide (and solder remnants) from the surface of the brass. I used to just soak the piece in acetone or alcohol to degrease but had some failures. Not so with the Sparex. These are my steps:
 
Pickle for 10-15 minutes. You must use copper tongs! I just keep my solution covered when not in use and it lasts for months. Do not forget to unplug or you will need a new crock  pot (ask me how I know)! It does not have an on-off switch.

Place the brass items into a baking solution/water bath for a few minutes to neutralize the solution. If you fail to do this you will get uneven blackening (ask me how I know (again)!

This is how they look after pickling. Clean as a baby's bottom.

 
Place the brass objects in an acetone solution for ten minutes or so. I have also used isopropyl but acetone seems to work better for me. Keep covered and don't inhale the acetone! Use only disposable gloves to handle the objects from this point on. Any grease from your fingers will prevent the blackening solution from adhering.

Prepare the blackening solution. I use hot water and Jax Blacken it. I use somewhere around a 1:7 ratio but in truth I just eyeball it. Place the brass objects into the solution and gently agitate so all surfaces are exposed.

After 3-4 minutes rinse flush out the solution with warm water for a couple of minutes until it is clear. I do not reuse the blackening solution as it is inexpensive and seems to lose its potency after mixing. Dump the brass objects on a paper towel and gently blot dry. There will be an uneven powdery surface but this is normal. Allow to dry for 10-15 minutes.

Use an eyeglass cleaner or old tee shirt to gently remove the surface covering then continue to rub. An evenly blackened surface should appear. You can also use a cloth polishing wheel at low speed to get into the nooks and crannies.

And here's the final product. No streaks, blemishes or chips. I hope you find this useful. Next up, if interested, is how I conquered silver soldering (finally).

 

Thanks guys. 
Well, it seems all I needed to do was complain about the phone and then it starts working.  Added the Spritsail. Rigged the Jib Guys, Spritsail Lifts and Spritsail Braces.  
 

Ahh, line in from Chuck. Progress can continue.
Here are the latest pictures. It is odd how the camera shows things distorted like the masts looking out of line. 
 
Jesse
 

Session 125

Session 123
 
 

Hello !
Session - 121
 
 

Very nice painting on those tiny parts

I recently spent a few days in Oslo and had the opportunity to visit the Norsk Maritimt Museum. They have a small collection of wooden boats strongly reminiscent of the Viking Age - more than a thousand years on: https://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/oslo/oslo.html
 

 
For comparison, there are also a few pictures of the boats from the GOKSTAD-grave in the Vikingskibethus.

this sander is great

So with another hours worth of work, all the foremast shrouds are in place. Next step - ratlines.
 

I'm beginning to be a believer. Futtuck shrouds were MUCH easier to do off the model.

Been doing a little of this and a little of that. Like adding the vertical ladder to the deckhouse, the ventilators, anchor chain, bitts, etc. Pretty soon I think I'll be starting the rigging.
 

Pinrails - as promised. Now it occurs to me that I didn't have to be so precise about fitting the stanchions - the tops can't be seen!
 

And now the port side is done. Next up is the pinrails.

Last night I measured, trimmed and installed 34 stanchions on the port side. Each one is a slightly different length. It was a couple of hours of great fun.

So I have the port side finished, I figure about 8 hours of work.

this sander is great

These are what i have at the top of the list so far.... its not a huge investment. Less than 400euros in total.

I have all of the above tools you have shown, they rarely get used to be honest, plus a Proxxon mill now, this is the tool I use most, can't beat it in my opinion. Useful for everything once you get used to it Proxxon bs/e belt sander
Regards
Paul

I just try to renew again and when I try to paie I go to visa name address and mobile required !

A good rotary tool, a disc sander and a jig saw.  Many great models are built with nothing but hand tools and many a failure has been produced with lots of power tools.  Go slow and buy what you need when you need it.

good morning everyone thank you for the likes and comments
 
MAIN DECK
 
all the decks are brass and sit on top of the kit plastic ones (after all the surface detail has been removed
 

this is the main deck 18 inches long, to save metal, various parts have to be removed these areas are covered over later, by the forecastle and bridge
 
 
first all the rivets have to be knocked through from the other side (about 500 on this piece) marks are provided to show where they are and a centre punch is used to do the work



 
the sides are then folded upwards and soldered in place, im not sure ca would do this very well 




and then two long strips as long as the whole piece are soldered against the folded piece to represent rivet lines i did use ca for this
 


 

Final Cargo Rigging
 
The booms on Hatch nr5 are configured in what was known as a “Wing and Wing’ rig, another variation on the Yard and Stay rig used on hatches 3 & 4. The Wing & Wing had the ends of both booms over the side of the ship, allowing cargo to be worked on both sides simultaneously. One feature of it is that the are no inboard guys - the ends of the booms are just lashed together for support.




I still have to trim some tag end and add some rope coils. Next up will be the lifelines and PE railings.

Hatch Nr3 Rigging
 
This hatch, like the last 2 to still to come, is rigged as a “Burton” or “Yard and Stay,” rig which had several variations. This hatch is rigged as the “standard” type. What made these rigs interesting for me is that the booms do not move during the cargo operation; the cargo can be moved anywhere along a line connecting the 2 points directly under the end of each boom by coordinating the 2 cargo winches. In this case one boom is positioned directly over the center of the hatch and the other over the side of the ship for loading to/from a pier or lighter.
 
When I was onboard the SS John Brown in Baltimore they ran a demonstration of a yard and stay rig at work, pretty simple when you see it in operation but it took a lot of concentration by the winch operators and foreman, one missed signal and the winches could end up pulling against each other which would quickly collapse the whole rig, with all the expected death and destruction.
 
Here the 2 cargo whips are rigged together and secured to an eye pad near the hatch:

I had to install the life raft racks before rigging the guys to make sure there would be no interference. The racks are made up of 4 pieces of VERY thin laser cut wood. It was a little intimidating cutting them loose from their fret/billet but once they were glued up they are pretty sturdy:

Here is the final rigging, minus rope coils that will come later - it is starting to look pretty busy:

Main Deck
 
I’ll fit out the main deck working fore to aft and bigger to smaller. Hatch Nr1 has the big pieces in place: